Not Forgotten: The Story of Team COAL
by MountainKing312
Summary: Colby Castanho, Ouranos Chryseos, Autumn Ashford, and Lily Renarde are a team of Beacon students trying to win glory for their kingdom during the fortieth Vytal Tournament. But when the tournament goes horribly wrong, it's up to them to rescue their fellow students from the clutches of the evil White Fang in a faraway kingdom.
1. Vytal Tournament Part 1

The time had come for the fortieth bi-annual Vytal Tournament and the atmosphere in the Kingdom of Vale was positively electric. The sun was shining and the Amity Colosseum was floating over Beacon Academy and the rugged landscape of Vale, giving a beautiful view of the mountains and valleys from above. It was in this arena that dreams would be fulfilled or ruined in an instant, and competitors would gain either eternal glory or perpetual shame. The occupants of the arena were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the competitors, who would give all that they had to honor their kingdoms.

"Good morning, viewers!" said a voice that boomed throughout the entire colosseum on the speaker system. "Welcome back to the fortieth bi-annual Vytal tournament! I'm your host, Peter Port, reporting from the Amity Colosseum in the beautiful Kingdom of Vale!" The entire crowd gave a cheer that could be heard from Beacon and the valleys far below. Peter Port was Beacon Academy's Grimm studies professor, whose job was to teach the students of Beacon about the evil creatures called Grimm and how to fight them.

Another voice spoke, this one belonging to Beacon's History professor, Bartholomew Oobleck. "Our next fight is between Team COAL of Vale's Beacon Academy and Team IRON of Shade Academy located in Vacuo! They're both composed of first years, but these students are not your average hunters in training! This is sure to be an exciting match!"

Colby Castanho walked into the arena with his teammates, nervous with all the people watching him but determined to bring glory to his kingdom. He had dark hair, brown eyes, and a caucasian, slightly tan complexion. He was about 5'11 tall, and wore a black jacket with a gray breastplate over it. He also wore tan jeans for pants and black tennis shoes with white stripes on them. His breastplate also had his symbol on it, an axe crossing a lightning bolt. To his peers, he was known as the "Gray Lightning."

Colby looked around at his three teammates. They were Ouranos Chryseos, Autumn Ashford, and Lily Renarde. Ouranos was a tall, muscular boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a set of armor that was slightly gold-tinted and had a blue cape. Autumn was a dog faunus with long, unkempt red hair, green eyes, and dog ears. She wore a red jacket with a black shirt under it and tan pants. Finally, Lily was an arctic fox faunus. She had fox ears, blue eyes, and silvery white hair. She wore a long-sleeved blue jacket with a skirt covering the upper part of her legs and light blue stockings underneath.

As the team walked into the center of the arena, they got a closer look at their opponents. Team IRON's leader was a blonde-haired boy who was dressed in a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and a cap. He was holding a golf club. The other members were a dark-skinned boy with a staff-like weapon consisting of two swords and wearing a set of light green armor, a brown-haired, nerdy-looking guy wearing glasses and a labcoat and holding what appeared to be a laser rifle, and a brunette cowgirl dressed in a cowboy hat, boots, a vest, a pair of blue jeans, and carrying two revolvers on her belt. Team IRON looked tough, but Colby was sure he could beat them.

"You'll regret facing us!" He yelled to them.

"Bring it on." The blonde boy replied. "My team and I eat chumps like you for breakfast."

The holographic panels began to flip through random environment types, before one stopped on a forest biome. Trees, grass, and bushes began to grow on one side of the arena. The other panel landed on an image of a city, and the ruins of what appeared to have been a city rose on the other side of the arena. The battleground was ready, and the tension in the atmosphere was palpable.

After a few seconds of tense silence that felt like an eternity, Professor Port gave the announcement: "Three! Two! One! Begin!"

Immediately, the cowgirl and the scientist opened fire. Team COAL scattered, rushing behind trees and the walls of destroyed buildings for cover. Colby jumped behind a bush, where Lily was waiting for him. She was the team's strategist, and her semblance allowed her to calculate probabilities.

"Alright Colby, here's what we need to do," she said as she began to lay down a plan. "This arena has a lot of trees and building walls, so you need to use that to your advantage. It will be harder for them to hit you while you're up there. You'll need to distract one of those shooters while we push out of this cover. Be quick and whatever you do, don't lose your balance. I'll cover you."

Colby jumped into action and activated his semblance, which allowed him to jump up to twenty feet. The scientist turned up and fired a few laser blasts at him, but missed while Colby landed on a nearby wall. Meanwhile, Lily jumped out of cover and pulled out her weapon, a bow. She fired a volley of arrows at the scientist, who jumped out of the way.

Colby jumped down from the wall to be met by the boy with the double-bladed sword. He pulled out his weapons, two tomahawks that could be infused with dust and used as boomerangs. The boy charged at him and they crossed blades. Colby parried his attack and struck back, only to be blocked. The boy swung back at Colby, but he dodged the attack, got down, and kicked the boy's legs out from under him. The boy fell to the ground, but he rolled out of the way before Colby could bring a tomahawk down on him. He ran away, and Colby pursued him.

Meanwhile, Autumn and Ouranos joined the fight. The cowgirl opened fire on Autumn, but the latter pulled out her weapon, a sonic guitar, and started playing it. Its sonic waves blew the bullets back at the brunette, who jumped out of the way and opened another round. Ouranos ran up and started swinging at her with his battleaxe, but she pulled out the lasso that she used as a melee weapon and grabbed ahold of the axe with it.

"Yeehaw! I've got you now!" she yelled out in a southern accent.

"That's what you think!" Ouranos replied. His eyes glowed red, and his strength increased tenfold.

"It seems that Mr. Chryseos has activated his semblance!" Oobleck yelled in an excited voice. "Ouranos Chryseos can make himself super strong for up to thirty seconds and lift objects weighing up to a ton during that time."

Ouranos yanked his axe and the cowgirl back toward him, then punched her many feet into the air.

"What the hell is going oooooonnnnnn!?" The cowgirl yelled as she flew into the air and hit a tree with a thud. The whole crowd cheered.

"I ain't dead yet!" The cowgirl said as she got back up and fired a few more rounds out of her revolvers. Ouranos jumped out of the way, but took a few rounds. His aura soaked up the bullets, but he still felt a burning, piercing sensation in his abdomen as if the aura were not there.

"Let me handle this!" Lily called over to him. She ran up behind him, jumped up on his back and into the air, and fired another volley of arrows at the cowgirl, who was unprepared for them. They hit her square in the chest and abdomen, causing her to cry out in pain. Her aura dropped below 15%, meaning that she was out of the match.

A buzzer rang out, followed by Professor Port's announcement: "Oakley Alon has been eliminated!"

Meanwhile, Colby was still dueling against the boy with the sword-staff. He appeared to be gaining the advantage. The boy had the superior defensive weapon, but it was heavier and required a lot more effort to spin around then Colby's tomahawks. He swung his blade at Colby in a desperate attack, but Colby blocked it with one of his tomahawks and slid under the boy's legs. While Colby was behind the boy, he slashed at him with a well-placed strike and caused him to stumble a few feet back in pain. Colby raised an axe to finish him off, but a laser blast came out of nowhere and hit him in the left shoulder. He stumbled a few feet back in pain, allowing his opponent to regain his strength. Then, the golfer entered the fray to challenge him.

Faced with laser blasts and a reinvigorated opponent with backup, Colby had no choice but to retreat. The golfer and the dual sword wielder pursued him and he turned around to make a final stand against the two of them. Armed with two tomahawks, he was able to parry both of their attacks, but it was difficult. He had to duck and jump over and under their attacks to avoid being hit, but he took a bit of damage. It soon became clear to his teammates that he would need their help.

"We've got to get rid of that shooter," Lily said to her teammates. "He appears to be located close to that tree over there. I'm going to shoot a fire dust arrow over there. Ouranos, once he runs into the open, activate your semblance to throw Autumn into guitar range so that she can blow him away. Once he's gone, we can move in to assist Colby. With that, she fired an arrow into the forest. The trees caught on fire, and the scientist ran into the open to avoid being burned by the flames.

"Now, Ouranos!" Lily yelled. Ouranos activated his semblance and threw the dog girl into the air and right in front of the scientist. She played an epic blast of music on her guitar, and the scientist was blown out of the combat zone. A buzzer rang out, signalling his elimination.

"Ray Reed is down!" Port announced.

With the scientist gone, the rest of Team COAL moved in to help their teammate. Colby and Ouranos crossed blades with the sword-staff user, who simply no longer possessed the strength to fight two opponents. Colby blocked his last attack with one hand, then kicked him a few feet back and onto his knees. He threw a tomahawk at him and hit him in the head, knocking his aura below 15% and eliminating him from the match. Colby held out his hand, and the tomahawk flew back into it.

"Naseem Rowan has been defeated!" shouted Port.

Now, only the golfer was left. Despite his now desperate situation, he had a smug grin on his face. "Well done for beating my teammates. However, you will find that I am not so easily defeated!"

"This battle is already lost," replied Autumn. "You chose to enter this tournament and face the hunters of Beacon, and now you're going to have to face the music!" Autumn played another epic solo on her guitar, and the golfer was blown many feet into the air. Rather than go out of bounds, however, he grabbed ahold of a tree branch and flipped himself back up toward Team COAL.

In midair, he pulled out his golf club and several multicolored golf balls. He threw them up and whacked them down toward Team COAL. They had all sorts of elemental effects when they hit the ground. The red ones exploded in balls of fire, the blue ones covered a certain-sized area in ice, and the yellow ones covered their area of impact in lightning, and many others. Team COAL had to jump out of their path, lest they be pelted with vast elemental damage.

When he landed, his aura became visible and started to glow green. To demonstrate his new power,he whacked a nearby tree with his golf club. The tree instantly splintered into many pieces.

"It seems like Mr. Irving Dunstan has activated his semblance!" Oobleck announced. He can transfer however much of his aura he wants into attack power, allowing him to deal massive damage at the cost of his aura's strength!"

This meant that Colby would have to avoid taking any damage from Irving, lest he be eliminated in one hit. He activated his jumping semblance one more time, then jumped several feet into the air. Colby knew that his opponent's semblance had drained his aura. He just needed to make the last hit before Irving did.

Irving swung his club at Colby one last time, and Colby jumped out over it. Now, it was his turn to land the final blow. While he was in the air, he brought his tomahawk down on the Irving's head. His opponent fell to the ground, and a final buzzer signalled his defeat. The battle was over. Team COAL had won.

"And there you have it, folks! Team COAL has won the match and will be advancing to the Doubles Round!" Port's voice boomed over the speakers.

"Who's the chump now?" Colby asked as he looked down at his defeated opponent. The golfer didn't say anything. Colby reached down and extended his hand. "You gave us a good fight," he said. "You should know that I truly enjoyed fighting with you. You were worthy opponents." He pulled Irving up.

"It appears I misjudged you," the golfer said. "You're not chumps after all. I can tell that you're going to go far in this tournament and as a hunter."

"You're darned right I am," said Colby. "My name's Colby Castanho, and you'd better not forget it!"

Colby exited the arena, satisfied with his victory. His father had been a well-known hunter in Vale until he and his teammates went missing on a mission. Their bodies were never found, they were all presumed dead. Since then, Colby had dedicated his life to becoming the best hunter in Remnant to honor his father's legacy and ensure that no one else he cared about would be killed by the monsters called Grimm. His desire to be the best had driven him to alienate others through his arrogance and over-competitiveness, but he reasoned that those people just couldn't handle being in the presence of such a skilled hunter.

After leaving the arena, Team COAL went to the fairground to celebrate their victory. There, they encountered some familiar faces.

"Congratulations, Team COAL!" said a red-haired muscular boy wearing a black jacket with the Beacon symbol on it. "You all are amazing fighters."

"Thanks, Brick!" Colby replied. "I'm glad you realize that my team and I are destined for greatness." Brick was the leader of Team BRWN (pronounced "brown"), who started attending Beacon the same year as Team COAL. When they weren't studying, they enjoyed playing video games together, cracking jokes, and even sparring together. Brick and his team weren't competing, but they cheered their friends on.

"About that, let me talk to you in private, Colby." The rest of Team COAL left to get food, play games, or partake in other fun shenanigans. Autumn turned off her guitar's amplifier, allowing her to play it like a normal electric guitar. She soon attracted a large crowd of students from all kingdoms who were eager to hear her epic rock and roll. Colby and Brick sat down at a picnic table under a large tent.

"Now, what is it you wanted to say, Brick?" asked Colby.

Brick began to speak. "While your skill as a hunter is undeniable, you need to realize that your over-competitiveness is driving people away from you. People don't care how skilled you are as a hunter until they know that you care about them."

"Are you suggesting that people dislike me?" Colby asked indignantly. "We live in a dangerous world, Brick. People need to feel protected, and they will look up to mighty hunters like myself for protection."

"That may be, but they'll like you only out of necessity. They may even be afraid of you. All I'm asking is that you learn to care about your friends and the people around you more than you value fame or winning."

"Brick, I-"

"He's right," a familiar female voice interrupted. Turning around, he saw a beautiful girl with long red hair in a ponytail and green eyes. She was dressed in armor, and carried a sword and shield. She was Pyrrha Nikos, a member of Team JNPR and one of the most talented fighters that Beacon had ever seen.

"Pyrrha?!" Colby asked, a little bit startled. "What are you doing here?"

"Same thing you're doing, Colby," she replied as she sat down next to them. "I'm enjoying the Vytal Festival with my friends. Now listen: fame and winning aren't everything. I had it all back in Mistral. I even became the mascot for Pumpkin Pete's cereal. But even at the height of my fame, I never felt happy. Being so famous put an enormous pressure on me to live up to everyone's expectations. No one could relate to me and I never had any real friends. That's why I chose to attend Beacon instead of Haven. Now, I'm surrounded by people who relate to me and call me their friend not because of my fighting abilities but because of who I am."

"I don't have that luxury, Pyrrha. Listen to me! This is about so much more than my personal fame or how much everyone likes me. I fight for-"

He was interrupted by a loud cheer from the crowd that had gathered around Autumn. They had formed a large circle around her, and Lily had joined in along with Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long. Ruby and Yang were two members of Team RWBY, and they enjoyed rocking with Autumn and Lily. Ruby, Yang, and Lily danced to Autumn's music, and the whole crowd danced with them.

"Well, I'd better make sure my teammates don't get in trouble," Colby said as he got up.

"I hope you'll think about the things that Pyrrha and I have said to you," Brick said.

"I will," replied Colby.

"_Not a chance," _he thought to himself as he walked over to the crowd and pushed through all the people. "Alright Autumn, party's over. We're going back to Beacon now."

"Come on, Lily and I are having a blast!"

"We need to get ready for the Doubles Round. Let's go."

"Congratulations on your victory in the Team Round, Colby!" Ruby yelled to him over the crowd.

"I'll say the same to you. Your team fought well against Team ABRN. So who have you selected to represent you in the Doubles Round?"

"Weiss and I will lead Team RWBY to victory!" replied Yang.

"Well, good luck! You'll need it!" Colby said as he walked away. Out of the four members of Team RWBY, Colby liked Yang the most. He enjoyed her loud, outgoing personality and especially enjoyed partying with her. Colby also enjoyed Ruby's antics, but she had been a source of embarrassment for him several months ago. He had fought against Ruby in one of Professor Glynda Goodwitch's training sessions and thought that he would easily beat her since she was two years younger and less experienced than him. But she was so much faster than him that he couldn't land a hit. After a fast-paced and confusing battle, Colby had been humiliated in front of the whole class. Despite this, he came to forgive her and call her his friend.

The other two members of Team RWBY were Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee. Colby admired Blake's intelligence but thought that she was too quiet. And although he had initially been irritated with Weiss's snobbish personality, he came to like her after she started to warm up to those around her.

After Colby and his teammates found Ouranos, they returned to Beacon, and began practicing for the Doubles Round. After that, they went to their dorm and decided they had time for a game of Blockworld. It was a game in which players would walk around Remnant and collect natural resources with which to create tools or build buildings. They would have to watch out for Grimm while exploring the land. Particularly infuriating was a silent Grimm that exploded when players got close to it. This Grimm had a tendency to cause massive damage to players and blow huge holes in structures.

"ARGH! That damned exploder just blew up my house again!" Colby shouted angrily as he threw his controller to the floor.

"Don't get all worked up, Colby," said Ouranos. "You need your energy to continue training for the next round."

"No, you're right. We need to get ready. We're going to blow the competition away. Just you wait."

With that, the team went to bed for the night. As he was lying in bed, he thought to himself, "_You didn't die in vain, father. I'll bring honor and glory to your name, our school, and our kingdom. No one will ever have to be afraid of the Grimm again."_


	2. Vytal Tournament Part 2

The members of Team COAL spent the next several days training for the Doubles Round of the Vytal Tournament, attending their regular classes, and watching the remaining matches of the Team Round. They witnessed exciting matches such as those between Team JNPR of Beacon and Team BRNZ of Shade, Team SSSN of Haven and Team NDGO of Shade, and many others. While they prepared for the next round, one important question remained: which two members were going to represent the team?

They sat in their dorm one night contemplating this very question. They didn't know who they would go up against, so they needed to create a pair that could handle whatever the opposition could throw at them. Since Lily could calculate probabilities, they asked her to determine which two members stood the best chance of winning in a given match.

"Colby and Ouranos are the perfect combination of speed, attack power, and durability." Lily said to them. Colby can move fast and hit hard, and Ouranos can soak up a lot of damage. With Colby's speed and Ouranos' durability, our team should be unbeatable."

A few more days passed and the Doubles Round began. Team RWBY fought Team FNKI of Atlas and won. Team CMSN of Haven defeated Team CFVY of Beacon. Finally, the day of Team COAL's match arrived. The night before, Colby was restless. He had to win no matter what. His pride and that of his team and his father depended on it.

On his way to the arena, he stumbled upon the mysterious woman who led Team CMSN. Colby didn't know her name, but something about her gave him the creeps. Whether it was her cold and calculating demeanor or her burning amber eyes, he didn't know.

"So you're the Gray Lightning," she said to him. "I'm excited to see your next match. You and your team really outdid yourselves in the last one."

"You know we did," Colby replied. You'd better hope you don't face us in the Singles Round!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself. You still have today's fight to deal with."

"Whatever, we'll smash whoever we're about to go up against, you'll see."

"Good luck,"the woman said, chuckling and grinning at him creepily. "You'll need it." Colby just said nothing and walked away.

"_What a strange woman," _he thought to himself.

Colby boarded the shuttle back to the floating Amity Colosseum. He saw Ouranos in the arena's locker room and they both geared up for combat and walked into the arena. Nothing could have prepared them for the moment when they saw their opponents.

"Next up is Team COAL of Beacon versus Team SSSN of Haven!" Port announced.

On the other end of the arena were Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias. The sight of them sent a shiver down Colby's spine. They were some of the toughest students in the tournament so far. Nonetheless, he had to defeat them for the sake of his father's legacy.

"It's an honor to face you in battle, Team SSSN," Colby said to them. "Just give us a good fight before we take you down."

"Easier said than done." Sun replied. "You're looking at two of the greatest fighters Haven has ever seen. You don't stand a chance against us!" He turned to Neptune. "Let's get this over with!"

"Time to show the monkey who's boss!" Colby said to Ouranos.

Colby and Ouranos drew their weapons and assumed their combat stances. Team COAL had to win and show that Sun was a thing of the past. There was a new hero in Remnant, and his name was Colby Castanho.

The panels started flipping through the different environment types before settling on a mountain in one corner, a forest in another, a series of floating platforms in another, and a desert in another.

A few seconds later, Professor Oobleck gave the word. "Three! Two! One! Begin!"

The fight began with everyone charging into the center and crossing weapons with each other. Sun swung his bamboo staff at Colby, who jumped over it and attempted to strike Sun from above. Sun jumped out of the way and twirled his staff around, hitting Colby in the abdomen and causing him to fall over. Sun attempted to bash Colby's head, but Colby rolled out of the way, got back up, and continued to swing away Sun, who blocked Colby's attacks and continued to swing his staff at him.

Colby looked around the arena and tried to determine the best environment to fight in. His semblance worked best in areas with ledges for him to jump on, so he decided he would retreat to the floating platform biome. He activated his semblance and jumped many feet into the air toward the platforms and Sun ran after him. There, they continued to clash and jump from platform to platform.

Meanwhile, Ouranos was fighting against Neptune in the desert corner. They clashed their weapons and took turns swinging at each other. Neptune thrust his spear at Ouranos, who then stepped out of the way and swung his axe at Neptune. Neptune ducked under the axe, then stepped a few feet back and pressed a button on his spear that turned it into a laser gun. He fired a few shots at Ouranos, who then ran out of the way but took a shot to his left shoulder. He pressed a button on his axe that turned it into a rocket launcher and fired a rocket at Neptune, who then ran toward the mountain biome.

Colby had Sun on the defensive. He was swinging away at Sun, who, despite his skill with his staff, was growing exhausted. That was when Neptune fired a shot at Colby, knocking him off of the platforms and into the mountain range.

Sun jumped up on a nearby ledge and activated his semblance. He summoned three clones of himself. These clones all swarmed around Colby and attacked him from all sides. One clone swung its staff at Colby, but he parried its attack with one of his tomahawks. Another charged in, but he did the same against it. When the third one attacked, Colby began to struggle. He jumped, ducked, and dodged all he could, but even he was starting to become exhausted. Unless Ouranos intervened, Colby would be eliminated.

Ouranos ran over to Colby as fast as he could. He kicked one of the clones to the ground and then finished it off with his axe. Colby locked weapons with another one before Ouranos rushed in from behind and destroyed it with a well-placed strike from his axe. The last one Colby kicked over and finished off with one of his tomahawks.

With the clones defeated, Sun and Neptune jumped back into the fight. Neptune fired a volley of laser blasts at Colby, who then zigzagged his way toward Neptune and jumped into the air using his semblance. Neptune quickly turned his gun back into a spear and Blocked Colby's attacks before the two began to spar with one another, dodging, blocking, and parrying each other's attacks.

Sun charged toward Ouranos, who used his strength semblance to throw a large rock at him. Sun jumped out of the way and clashed with Ouranos close up. They stepped back from each other, and continued to swing away. Ouranos skillfully blocked many of Sun's attacks but was ultimately no match for Sun's superior maneuverability. Sun rolled under Ouranos and hit him from behind before he could react. His aura fell below 15%, and he fell to the ground. He was out of the match.

"Ouranos Chryseos has been eliminated!" Port announced.

Ouranos's elimination drove Colby into a blind rage. He refused to be defeated after he had come so far. Neptune shoved his spear at Colby, but Colby grabbed it, flipped around and into the air, and landed a tomahawk right on Neptune's forehead. Neptune screamed and fell to the ground, where Colby finished him off by kicking him in the head repeatedly. A buzzer sounded, and Neptune was eliminated.

"Neptune Vasilias is down!" shouted Port.

Now it was down to just Colby and Sun. Colby had to defeat Sun and win the match. In his rage, he charged toward Sun, who blocked his attack.

"I'm taking you down, Sun!" He said to the monkey faunus while their weapons were crossed.

"In your dreams, punk!" Sun replied. "No matter what you do, the Sun will always rise again!"

The uncrossed their weapons and continued to strike at each other. "_If I can just slow him down, victory will be mine," _Colby thought to himself. He pressed a button on each of his tomahawks, switching the dust setting to ice. Dust was a substance that allowed people to perform elemental attacks. Colby slammed one of the tomahawks on the ground and created a trail of ice that moved toward Sun,, but the monkey faunus rolled out of the way. Colby charged at Sun one more time, but Sun dodged his attack, jumped up, and roundhouse kicked Colby in the head. Finally, Colby's aura dropped below 15% and he fell to the floor. Team COAL was out of the Vytal Tournament.

"Team SSSN wins the match and will advance to the Singles Round!" Oobleck shouted. The whole crowd cheered.

Colby felt more humiliated than he had ever felt before in his life. He had lost the match. He had let down his team, his father, and his school. He had disgraced his father's legacy and everyone would remember him as a loser. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to disappear from the face of the earth entirely. Indeed, he wished Sun had killed him.

"That was a good match, Colby." Sun said to Colby as he reached down to pull him up.

"Get your hand away from me!" Colby said as he smacked Sun's hand away. "You ruined my chance at glory! I will never live up to my father's legacy now! For the rest of my life, everyone will call me a failure and a disgrace to my father! And as for you, I hope you get eaten by a Beowolf and everyone remembers you as an even bigger failure." Then, he got up and left the arena with Ouranos.

Team COAL returned to Beacon and sat down for dinner in the cafeteria. Colby ate hardly anything because he was still upset over his loss.

"Come on Colby, you've got to eat something!" Ouranos said to him. "We did our best and we lost. Everyone respects that. No one thinks you're a failure."

"You said some harsh things to Sun, Colby." Lily added. "People are more likely to remember you badly for that than for your actual loss. You need to let go of this and focus on becoming a better person."

"You don't understand, Lily. This is the legacy of my father, Corbin Castanho we're talking about. He made the ultimate sacrifice to keep all of us safe from the monsters that prowl our land. And now I have repaid that sacrifice with loss and humiliation."

"And what would your father think if his son was a great big jerk?" Autumn asked him. That's a bigger disgrace if you ask me."

"My dad didn't become the best hunter in Vale by being nice, Autumn!"

"He sure wasn't looked up to for being a jerk either, Colby. Think about that next time you want to be a jerk to someone."

Colby just slumped back in his chair and continued eating his dinner.

Several more days passed and the Doubles Round concluded. Many teams were eliminated, and only a handful of students remained. To no one's surprise, Pyrrha Nikos and Nora Valkyrie of Team JNPR easily defeated their opponents and advanced to the Singles Round. Colby pitied the poor fools who had to face them. Finally, Team COAL went to the arena on the night that the Singles Round would begin. Even though they lost, they could still cheer their school on. Colby felt that he owed it to his school.

The first match of the Singles Round was between Yang Xiao Long of Team RWBY and Mercury Black of Team CMSN. Of course, Team COAL would root for Yang since she represented their school.

"Kick his ass, Yang!" Colby cheered.

The round began, and the two gladiators charged at each other. Team COAL was sure that Yang was going to win, but Mercury's kicks were quite powerful. They went away punching, kicking, and shooting at each other while jumping, ducking, and dodging each other's attacks. It was an exciting fight and the members of Team COAL were on the edge of their seats. But in the end, Yang was the winner.

But then, something completely unexpected happened. Yang suddenly punched Mercury in the leg and caused him to fall over in pain. Colby didn't know what to make of this. Yang was a loud and rambunctious girl, but she would never attack another person without provocation. Colby was sure this was some sort of mistake.

"This has to be a mistake," he said to everyone. "I know Yang and she's a big softy on the inside."

"Given my knowledge of her personality and the stresses that battle can have on someone's psyche, I'd say she was probably hallucinating," said Lily.

The Atlesian police arrived in the arena and arrested Yang while paramedics rushed Mercury out of the arena. After Team COAL returned to Beacon, Colby spoke to the Atlesian General Ironwood to convince him of Yang's innocence.

"I know Yang, and she's a nice girl," he said. "She would never hurt Mercury on purpose. She probably just saw something that wasn't there, being under the stress of combat and all."

"You're probably right, but we have to keep her under house arrest until we can determine that she's not a threat," Ironwood replied. "Those are the rules, I'm afraid."

Several more days passed. News about what had happened travelled around the school fast. Everyone was afraid that someone else might get hurt during the tournament. But after a few more days, everyone forgot about the incident as the tournament went down to its final four competitors. Much to Colby's annoyance, Sun had won his first Singles match and had advanced to the final four.

The first match of the final four would be between Pyrrha Nikos of Beacon and Penny Polendina of Atlas. These were some of the toughest fighters in their respective kingdoms, and Team COAL knew that they were about to witness what might be the most exciting match of the tournament. Obviously, they would be rooting for their classmate, Pyrrha.

"Come on Pyrrha, you've got this!" Colby shouted.

The match began, and Penny summoned a barrage of floating swords to attack Pyrrha. Pyrrha blocked them and pressed the attack with her sword and shield. But Penny's defenses were solid. The two continued to attack each other, and Penny eventually jumped up and kicked Pyrrha's sword away. Pyrrha activated her semblance and summoned her sword back, and Penny readied her swords to strike Pyrrha again. What happened next would haunt the memories of Team COAL forever.

Using her semblance, Pyrrha let out a magnetic wave that caused Penny's swords to fly back at her, cutting off her arms and ripping the rest of her body in half. She was dead, and her body fell to the floor in pieces. If that wasn't horrific enough, her insides appeared to be made of metal. Was Atlas using a robot in the tournament the whole time?

Team COAL was horrified. Their classmate had just killed another combatant. Robot or not, Team COAL viewed Penny as a person. But despite the horror that they had just witnessed, they knew that Pyrrha couldn't have meant to do it. "This has to be an accident_," _Colby said to his teammates. "Pyrrha would never do something like this on purpose_."_

No sooner had the words left his mouth than everyone heard a female voice over the speakers. "This is not a tragedy," the voice said. "This is not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians but are in reality nothing more than men."

The woman continued speaking, accusing Beacon's headmaster Ozpin of arranging Penny's death in order to recover his reputation after the Grimm had breached the city a few months ago, an event that forced Ironwood and his army to occupy the city. But Team COAL knew it was all a bunch of lies. To them, the truth shined brighter than the day.

Vale was under attack.

Shortly after the woman finished speaking, a raven-like Grimm called a Nevermore landed on the roof of the arena and started pecking away at the forcefield. Everyone in the colosseum went into a panic, screamed, and ran away. But through it all, Team COAL stayed calm. Colby stood up from his seat and looked over at his teammates.

"Someone set this up," he said to them as he walked away from the arena and toward the windows. "I don't know who, but that's not what matters right now. The people behind this wanted to cause a panic so that they could attract Grimm into the city. But I think their real target is Beacon. Without it, Vale will be defenseless. We have to get down there now!"

"I agree, but someone will have to evacuate the city as well," replied Lily. "Many innocent people are in danger."

"Ouranos and I will evacuate civilians from the city," Autumn said bravely. "You and Colby focus on protecting Beacon."

"Excellent plan," replied Lily. "But how can we get down there quickly?"

"I have an idea," Colby said as he pulled out his scroll and entered a series of numbers. When his teammates realized what he was doing, they did the same. Less than a minute later, four rocket-powered lockers crashed through the windows.

"We can use these to get down there fast," Colby replied. "Good luck, everyone."

"You can count on us, Colby!" Autumn replied as she entered her locker. "We'll keep everyone safe."

"Stay safe, my friends," Lily said to Autumn and Ouranos.

The four teammates entered their lockers and launched themselves toward their destinations. Colby and Lily flew toward Beacon, while Autumn and Ouranos launched themselves into the streets of Vale.

Colby and Lily landed just outside the dorms. It was a rough landing, but they were unhurt. "We have to warn everyone," Lily said to Colby.

The two rushed inside the dorms to find many students wondering what was going on. "We're under attack!" Colby said.

Brick, who had stayed behind to finish homework while watching the match on TV, walked out of his dorm accompanied by one of his teammates, a boy named Wizel.

"I know, I heard the announcement!" Brick replied. "What do we need to do?".

"You need to get as many students out of here as possible," Lily replied. "Colby and I will handle the attackers."

"You're sure you don't need our help?" asked Wizel.

"That will only get all of you killed," replied Colby. "Leave the fighting to us. You just get as many people out of here alive as you can."

"I'll do my best, replied Brick. "But if we don't survive, I want to say that it's an honor to have had you as my classmates."

"We're honored to have you as our friends," Colby replied. "Good luck out there."

Brick turned around and told everyone in the room to follow him. Meanwhile, Colby and Lily rushed outside to face the invaders. When they left the building, they were greeted by a squad of White Fang members. The White Fang were a group of faunus terrorists who supposedly fought for equal faunus rights but often resorted to senseless violence. The soldiers had their weapons drawn, and their officer spoke to the hunters.

"Put down your weapons and we'll make your deaths painless," he said.

"Come and get us, you White Fang bastards!" Colby yelled over to them as he and his teammate drew their weapons.

"Attack!" The White Fang officer commanded.

Throughout Beacon and the whole kingdom, the sounds of screaming, gunfire, and the clashing of weapons could be heard. The Battle of Beacon had begun.


	3. The Flames of War

The soldiers charged forth and engaged the hunters. One of the thugs swung a sword at Colby, who then blocked it with one tomahawk and cut open the man's stomach with the other. Two more charged at him, but he parried each of their attacks and then struck each of them down with a blow to each of their chests when he retaliated.

Lily, meanwhile, pulled out her bow and shot a couple of White Fang goons who were charging at her. The arrows hit them in their chest and abdomen, killing them instantly. Seeing that he was beaten, the officer tried to escape. Lily shot the officer in the leg before he could run, and Colby axed him in the skull.

"Is that all you've got?!" Colby called out into the darkness.

The answer was swift and unpleasant. Dozens of White Fang soldiers charged forward with their weapons drawn. Some of them were armed with guns and opened fire on the two hunters, who jumped behind a pillar for cover.

"Colby, use your semblance!" Lily said. "It'll be harder for them to hit you. I'll cover you while you're over there."

Colby jumped several feet into the air and swung his tomahawks at the attacking White Fang troops, killing many of them. They fired their guns at him, but they were terrible shots and missed. Colby changed the dust setting on one of his tomahawks to fire and threw it around. It hit several White Fang soldiers, lighting them on fire and burning them to death. Lily, meanwhile, pulled out her bow and shot many White Fang soldiers before they could shoot Colby. When one of them saw her location, however, he threw a grenade over at her position and forced her to jump out to avoid being caught in the blast. The White Fang troops rushed at her, but she pulled out the knife she used for close-quarters combat and started attacking them. One of them attempted to fire at her, but she rushed toward him, kicked his legs out from under him, and stabbed him in the chest. She then pulled out her bow and continued firing at the White Fang troops.

**Meanwhile, in the streets of Vale... **

Autumn and Ouranos emerged from their lockers to find that the city was in complete chaos. Autumn's semblance allowed her to detect when Grimm were nearby, and at this moment her "Grimm sense" was tingling more than it ever had before. They heard a loud screech, and saw a massive dragon-like Grimm fly over them. Looking around, they saw that buildings were burning and Grimm were running around everywhere. They landed right in the middle of a battlezone with a horde of Boarbatusks charging at them. Fortunately, they were assisted by a squad of Atlesian robots. The Grimm charged forward, but the robots opened fire and made quick work of them.

"I'm glad these guys are on our side!" Ouranos said to Autumn.

But suddenly, the robots turned toward the hunters and opened fire.

"Too soon, Ouranos! Too soon!" Autumn shouted as she jumped out of the way. She pulled out her guitar and let out a sonic blast that destroyed several Atlesian robots in front of her and sent pieces of metal flying into a nearby Beowolf, killing it instantly.

A group of robots fired at Ouranos, but he dodged their fire, pulled out his axe and destroyed them easily.

"Whoever orchestrated the attack must have taken control of Atlas's robots," Ouranos said. "But we need to keep moving. People need our help."

They ran through the streets and encountered many other Grimm. An Ursa charged at them, but Autumn pulled out her guitar and unleashed a sonic barrage on the beast. The Grimm, however, jumped over it and attempted to crush the hunters with its claws. They jumped out of the way and Ouranos used his strength semblance to flip the Ursa over and bring his axe down in its belly. The Grimm died, and its body disappeared in a dark mist.

They continued through the streets, where they saw a horde of Atlesian robots closing in on a large group of civilians. This group included men, women, and children of both species, human and faunus. They were terrified and had nowhere to run to.

Immediately, Autumn and Ouranos ran forward and engaged the robots. The robots fired at them, but Autumn played her guitar and unleashed a sound wave that blasted the bullets back toward the robots and destroyed many of them. Charging in, Ouranos swung his axe at the robots and destroyed several of them. They concentrated their fire on him, but he ducked, jumped, and rolled his way out of their fire and destroyed them. Autumn also blasted her way through several robots and destroyed them with powerful sonic waves and used her guitar as a melee weapon close up. Before long, the robots were all destroyed. When the fighting died down, the hunters turned to the crowd.

"Get out of here now while you still can!" shouted Ouranos. "We'll deal with the robots and the Grimm!" Before long, everyone ran away.

"Let's keep moving, Ouranos!" said Autumn. "There are many people we still need to save."

The duo kept running to the city. Turning around the corner, they saw a huge wave of Beowolves and Ursai charging at them. They moved forward and dealt with the Grimm, dodging their claw strikes and swinging back with their weapons. They hacked, slashed, dodged, and blasted their way through the streets, but the Grimm were simply too numerous. They fell back into a corner, and the Grimm closed in on them. To the hunters, it seemed like the end.

"Looks like this is it. It's been an honor, Ouranos!" Autumn shouted fearfully.

Just then, a series of gunshots rang out. Bullets, laser blasts, and dust-infused golf balls flew through the air and killed many of the Beowolves, who then disintegrated. Looking at the top of a nearby building, Autumn and Ouranos saw that their saviors were none other than the four members of Team IRON.

"Y'all looked like you needed some help!" Oakley Alon shouted happily.

Irving Dunstan joined in. "Friends of Colby Castanho! Team IRON is here to lend a hand in driving the monsters out of Vale!" With that, Team IRON jumped in and joined the fight against the Grimm.

**Back at Beacon…**

Colby and Lily were thinning out the White Fang soldiers and bodies were starting to pile up on the ground. They continued to hack, slash, and shoot White Fang thugs, and a few Beowolves joined the fight. Using their claws, they cut down many of the unfortunate goons and swallowed their remains. Then, they rushed up to Colby and Lily. The two hunters jumped out of the way and then turned to deal with the Grimm. Lily fired a barrage of arrows at the Beowolves and killed several of them. When the remaining Grimm drew close, Lily pulled out her knife and prepared to engage the Grimm up close. Colby jumped over one of them as it swiped at him with its claws and landed on its back. From there, he repeatedly shoved each of his tomahawks into its head and killed it. Lily slid under a Beowolf's legs and stabbed it in the stomach, killing it and causing its body to disappear. The two hunters then charged forward and killed the remaining Beowolves.

"Looks like we got em!" Colby shouted triumphantly.

The moment of victory was cut short when four elite White Fang soldiers arrived. One had a greatsword, one had a spear, one had a chainsaw, and another had two swords that he dual-wielded.

"There's two of them!" one of the terrorists shouted. "Let's take them out!"

The elite soldiers charged forward at Colby and Lily. Lily fired a few arrows at them, but they deflected the arrows with their weapons and moved in close. The one with the greatsword attacked Colby, who jumped over the attack, did a flip, and landed behind the soldier. The soldier turned around, and swung his sword up toward Colby, who then blocked it and stepped back a few feet. Then, the one with the spear joined in. He shoved his spear at Colby, who ducked under it, jumped up, and swung a tomahawk at the soldier. The soldier blocked it, and then the one with the sword took the opportunity to strike at Colby again. But colby jumped back, dodged the attack, and kicked the swordsman down before finishing him off by axing him in the head. The spearman swung at him again, but Colby grabbed the spear, wrestled it out of his grasp, and impaled the faunus with his own spear.

While all that was happening, Lily engaged the chainsaw user and the dual wielder. The dual wielder slashed at her, but she backflipped and fired a volley of arrows at him. He slashed them all midair and then the chainsaw wielder joined the fight. He swung at Lily, who jumped over the blade and then kicked the soldier in the head while she was in the air. He was stunned, but the dual wielder jumped in to aid him and continued attacking Lily. He slashed at her with his swords, but she kicked the swords out of his hands and finished him off with a well-placed arrow. The chainsaw wielder made one last effort to kill Lily, but the arctic fox faunus dodged his attack, pulled out her knife, and stabbed him in the chest. These elite units were tough, but they weren't invincible.

Just as the two hunters finished off their foes, a lone White Fang officer walked forward. His face was hidden by his White Fang mask, but he had short, white hair and ears like that of a polar bear. The faunus looked and sounded like he was the same age as Colby and Lily. He wore a blue jacket with a white shirt underneath that bore the White Fang emblem.

"Such skill in combat," he said. "If only we could have fought on the same side...Lily." He took his mask off and revealed his face.

"No...Polaris?!" Lily gasped in horror.

**In the streets of Vale…**

Autumn and Ouranos had turned the tide with the help of Team IRON. The six hunters plowed their way through hordes of Grimm and robots and paved the way for many civilians to flee to safety. But suddenly, they heard giant footsteps. Looking ahead, they saw an enormous elephant-like Grimm called a Goliath. Upon seeing the hunters, it roared in fury and prepared to charge.

"That Goliath is headed straight toward us!" shouted Ray Reed.

The Goliath charged forward and everyone scattered. Ouranos put his weapon in rocket launcher mode and fired a rocket at the Grimm, but the monster was just stunned for a few seconds. Emerging from its daze, it was even more enraged than before.

"Damn. Nothing hurts that thing," said Ouranos.

Oakley and Ray opened fire with their weapons, but their attacks did nothing. The Goliath stomped at them, but Naseem and Ouranos they fell back. Autumn let out a blast of music on her guitar, but the sonic waves appeared to have little effect on the creature.

"That Grimm's hide is thicker than Jaune Arc's skull!" Autumn said half-jokingly.

"But we may be able to hurt it if we attack its belly," said Naseem. "I've got an idea! If we can distract the beast long enough for someone to strike its stomach, we should be able to kill it. I will need everyone to distract that creature while Oakley and Ray can get under it and fire at its belly. That should destroy the Grimm.

"Excellent plan, Naseem!" Irving replied.

"We're on it!" Autumn joined in.

Four of the six hunters ran in front of the Goliath to distract it. They opened fire with their weapons, irritating the Grimm and causing it to swipe at them with its trunk, kick at them with its feet, and ram its tusks at them. While the Grimm was distracted, Irving and Naseem climbed up its legs and onto its back. Then, they swung their weapons away at the creature from on top of it. The attacks did little damage, but they caused drew the creature's attention away from those on the ground.

"Now, Oakley!" Ray said as he and Oakley slid under the Goliath's legs and its exposed belly. They opened fire with their weapons, causing the Grimm to roar in pain. The Goliath started to teeter, and the two shooters got out from under it before the creature collapsed and disappeared into a dark mist.

"Yeehaw! We did it!" Oakley cheered.

Their moment of victory was cut short when Irving's scroll rang. Upon answering it, he heard the voice of Nebula, the leader of Team NDGO.

"Irving, this is Nebula! We're pinned down in the industrial district and need backup!"

"Roger, we're on it!" Irving replied. He turned over to Autumn and Ouranos. "We're sorry, but our classmates need our help. You're on your own now."

"If we survive, we hope we can see you again," replied Autumn.

"We'll meet again, friends," said Irving. Then, Team IRON ran toward the industrial district to help Team NDGO. Autumn and Ouranos continued down the street to evacuate more people.

**At Beacon…**

"That's right, it's your old friend Polaris," the polar bear faunus replied. "I'm disappointed in you, Lily."

"Lily, you know this asshole?" a shocked Colby asked.

"He and I grew up together in Mantle," the arctic fox faunus explained. "It used to be the capital of Atlas, but it fell into disrepair when the capital was moved to a newer, better city. It's where most of the Atlesian faunus live."

Polaris joined in. "Our kind is treated like dirt in that kingdom. Lily and I grew up under similar conditions, yet she did not follow me into the White Fang." He turned to Lily. "Why do you waste your brilliant mind and your combat prowess fighting for the very people who oppressed you?! We could have accomplished so much together!"

"I fight to protect humanity because I still have faith in them!" the arctic fox faunus replied.

"Look around. See where that faith has gotten you?" replied Polaris. "Everything is burning. Soon, Beacon Academy will be no more. Humanity has failed you. And what has this human ever done for you?" he said, gesturing toward Colby.

"He is my friend and my team leader!" Lily replied. "He's been my friend since we both arrived at this school and he has always been there to protect me and my teammates."

"You trust this human to protect you?" asked Polaris. "He cares about nothing but his own fame. Did you hear what he said to Sun Wukong? He would prefer for that faunus to die because he lost a frivolous contest. He will use you for his fame and then discard you without a second thought."

"Colby is my friend!" Lily replied angrily. "He will never betray me! I won't give up on him or humanity!"

"Then you will die with them," Polaris replied while he put his mask back on. "But enough talk! Have at you!"

Polaris drew his weapons, a pair of metal claws that extended from his hands. He charged forward at Colby and Lily.

Lily pulled out her bow and fired a few arrows at Polaris, who deflected them using his claws. Colby ran ahead and crossed blades with Polaris, who deflected his initial strikes and then locked blades with his human opponent. He kicked at Colby's knee and caused the human to stumble back. When Polaris went in for the kill, Colby blocked the attack and countered with his own tomahawk strikes. While all this was happening, Lily charged in with her knife. She slashed at Polaris, who jumped out of the way. It was a two-on-one fight, but Polaris held his own.

"For a polar bear, you really need to chill!" Colby joked. "This should help!" He changed his weapons' dust setting to ice and slammed them on the ground. An ice trail rushed toward Polaris, but it did nothing against him.

"You fool! Did Lily neglect to tell you that I'm immune to extreme cold?" He laughed.

"Enough! Time to end this!" Colby shouted as he and Lily charged at Polaris again.

**Meanwhile, in a forest just outside Beacon…**

Brick and Wizel lead the escaping students away from Beacon along with their teammates Nina and Rosso, running as fast as they could. They hoped that Colby and Lily were safe, and that the distraction their friends provided would be enough for them to escape. Unfortunately, the White Fang's air forces easily spotted the escaping students. The students reached a clearing, where they were greeted by a large group of White Fang troops.

The students charged forward to engage the White Fang, but they were not the fighters that Team COAL were. Brick swung his weapon, a giant mace, at many White Fang troops and managed to kill a few, but a nearby White Fang lieutenant with a greatsword charged in and attacked. They swung at each other for a few seconds, but the lieutenant got the upper hand and knocked Brick to the ground.

Before the lieutenant could finish Brick off, Wizel drew his sword and shield and activated his semblance, which covered his body in white armor. Brick got up, and he and Wizel sparred with the lieutenant. But the lieutenant struck Wizel's shield and pushed him back several feet and into a tree. Then, he knocked Brick to the ground again.

Looking around, Brick saw that his teammates and other classmates weren't faring any better. They fought hard, but they were no match for the White Fang's superior numbers. Many had already been gunned down. His three teammates were still alive, but they would not stay that way if the fight continued for much longer. As he saw the lieutenant walk toward him and prepare to deal the finishing blow, he decided to do the only thing he could to save his life and those of his classmates.

Brick threw his hands up. "I surrender!" he shouted. Around him, the remaining students did the same.

**At Beacon…**

Colby and Lily were finally starting to turn the tide against Polaris. He clawed at Colby, but Colby blocked his attack. Lily joined in and fired a few arrows at Polaris, who then jumped out of the way. Lily joined in and stuck her knife at Polaris, who blocked with one of his claws. Colby then rushed in, crossed blades with the other claw, and finally kicked the polar bear faunus in the stomach. Polaris fell to the ground, and the two hunters walked up to him.

"Give up, Polaris," Lily said. "You can't win.

Polaris broke out in maniacal laughter. "I already have."

Just then, several White Fang airships flew in, landed close to Polaris, and opened their doors. Inside, they saw many White Fang soldiers who pointed their guns at Colby and Lily. But they also saw dozens of their fellow students on board the airships, including Team BRWN! They were standing in a large group with their hands tied together and their weapons confiscated. Colby and Lily's diversion had failed and White Fang had captured their friends. Colby felt a sense of shame that dwarfed the feeling he experienced when he lost to Sun.

"You see, Lily, you're wasting your talent fighting against us," Polaris said triumphantly as he boarded one of the airships. "You can't save humanity from justice!"

"Don't worry about us!" Brick shouted to them. "Look after the people of Vale and your teammates! You can help our kingdom recover from this tragedy!"

"Shut your mouth!" Polaris shouted angrily as he punched Brick in the face. Then he turned toward the two hunters. "Open fire," he said to his men.

The gunners opened fire, forcing Colby and Lily to run behind a pillar for cover. After that, the airships flew away into the sky.

"POLARIS, YOU COWARD! COME BACK HERE AND FINISH THIS!" Colby shouted into the sky. But it was too late. The White Fang were gone, and they had taken Colby and Lily's friends with them.

"We have to find them!" Colby shouted in rage. "They will pay for what they've done to our city!"

"That will have to wait for now," Lily replied. Autumn and Ouranos still need our help."

"Alright, let's go," he said as the two of them ran toward the city. On their way to the city, they heard the groan of a White Fang soldier who had been wounded. He was hurt, but he would survive if he received medical attention in time.

"_He can tell us where our friends have been taken,"_ Colby thought. He ran up to the soldier and said, "Tell us where our friends have been taken. Don't make me ask twice because I'm having a REALLY bad night!"

"D-don't hurt me!" the faunus replied. "Polaris took your friends to our main Vacuo base. It's deep in that kingdom, quite a ways southwest of Shade Academy. You'll never make it. Nothing survives out there except for the Grimm and us White Fang."

"I didn't ask for your opinion!" Colby said angrily.

"But I told you what you wanted to know. You'll let me live, won't you?"

Colby wondered what to do. He felt nothing but hatred toward the White Fang in that moment, but the faunus did give him the information he wanted. He decided to do the honorable thing and spare the soldier's life.

"I'll turn you over to Atlas," Colby replied. "They'll decide what to do with you."

Colby and Lily helped him up and took him toward the city with them. On their way there, they encountered a group of human Atlesian soldiers and handed him over to them. Then, they called Autumn and Ouranos, learned their teammates' location, and moved toward them as fast as they could.

**On the streets of Vale…**

Autumn and Ouranos were finishing off the Grimm. Just as Colby and Lily arrived on the scene, Ouranos was cutting the head off of a Beowolf. They looked over and saw their other two teammates.

"Well, look who's tardy to the party?!" shouted Autumn.

Colby and Lily weren't amused. They each gave their teammate a deathly glare.

"What's wrong?" Ouranos asked.

"The White Fang kidnapped Team BRWN and dozens of other students! They've taken them all the way to their main Vacuo base!"

"But Vacuo is thousands of miles away! How will we get there?" Autumn asked.

"We'll need to sit down and figure out a plan," said Lily. But first, we'll need to get away from all these Grimm."

"The Atlesians have set up a refugee camp on the outskirts of town," Ouranos replied. "That's where the civilians and most of Beacon's students are being evacuated to. We should be safe there. Let's go there and figure out a plan."

"Sounds good! Now let's get out of here before more Grimm show up!" said Autumn.

And so Team COAL left the city, devastated by the loss of their home but determined to rescue their friends and bring the attackers to justice.


	4. From the Ashes

Team COAL left the city and walked through the countryside, sad but not broken in either body or spirit. They were determined to save their friends, and they would figure out how once they got to safety. But once Colby and Lily were out of battle, they could no longer numb themselves to the fact that they had killed humanoids for the first time. They had killed Grimm before on missions at Beacon, but they had hoped they would never have to kill sentient beings. But they realized that they would have to do it again to save their friends. This made them uncomfortable, but they would do it if they had to.

They walked over hills and through woods and fields on their way to the refugee camp. After a few hours, they arrived to find the place full of tents where the survivors would live until the situation in Vale was back under control. There were also a lot of Atlesian soldiers and vehicles present. Many of the survivors were students from Beacon and the other academies as well as some professors, but there were a lot of civilians there as well. Three of these survivors were none other than Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren, members of Team JNPR. Colby was relieved to see them alive. "Jaune! Nora! Ren! You're okay!" He shouted to them.

Walking closer, however, they noticed that something wasn't right. Team COAL quickly realized that Pyrrha Nikos was not with her teammates. When they got closer to team JNPR, they saw the pained expressions on their faces. In that moment, they realized the horrible truth.

"No...It can't be…" Lily said in shock and horror.

Jaune spoke up and confirmed their fears. "Pyrrha sacrificed herself to protect everyone," he said with audible grief. "She and Ozpin are gone. They gave everything they had to keep us safe."

"No…" Colby said as he fell to his knees in shock. He felt a sense of shame that burned every fiber of his being a thousand times worse than when he saw Team BRWN and all those other students get kidnapped. His headmaster and one of his classmates had been killed right under his nose. Now, there was no doubt in his mind that he had completely and utterly failed as a hunter.

"This is my fault," he said with his voice shaking in grief. "I failed to protect them."

"Colby, there is nothing you could have done to help them," Jaune said to him. "They knew the dangers, and they chose to stay and fight. And besides, you couldn't have known where they were and what they were doing."

"But it's my duty as a hunter to protect other hunters and huntresses!" Colby said. "No one had to die tonight!"

"But wasn't it their duty to do the same?" asked Ren. "You can't protect everyone. You fought valiantly, but there's really nothing you could have done."

"We know how you feel, Colby," said Nora. "We wish we could have done more. Pyrrha was our friend, and Ozpin was our headmaster. But we can't give up. We have to keep fighting to protect those who survive. It's what Pyrrha and Ozpin would have wanted."

"But I failed the living too. The White Fang kidnapped dozens of students, including my friends, the members of Team BRWN. They've been taken all the way to Vacuo."

"Then go save them, Colby!" Jaune shouted. "That is how you will honor the legacy of all those who have fallen. You have an obligation to fight not just for the living, but to ensure that the dead did not die in vain! You will not only be saving Beacon's next generation of hunters, but you will also be finishing what Pyrrha and Ozpin started!"

Colby stood up. "You're right, Jaune. For the sake of my friends, living and dead, I cannot give up! We will cut our way across this continent and save our friends or we will die trying!"

"That's the spirit, Colby!" shouted Nora.

"But might I ask what all of you are going to do now?" Lily asked.

"We'll stay here for now," replied Jaune. "Right now, we're waiting to hear if Ruby and Yang will be okay."

"Did something happen to them?" asked Colby. "And what about Weiss and Blake?"

"Yang lost an arm and Ruby's unconscious." Jaune explained. "We're going to visit them in Patch as soon as we can. Weiss was taken back to Atlas, and Blake just...ran away." His voice had a hint of resentment in it when he said the last two words.

"Oh," Colby said sadly. "Well, all I can say is that I'm truly sorry for what's happened both to you and them. I hope that when this chaos is finally over, we can see them again someday. But before we go, I want to apologize to all of you. I was so focused on fame and winning that I never took the time to appreciate you as my friends. And if you ever see the members of Team RWBY again, tell them I'm sorry."

"We will, Colby. We promise," said Jaune. The two teams leaned in for a massive group hug.

"Take care of yourselves," Colby said as he and his team walked into a nearby tent.

In the tent, the team sat down and began to discuss their plan to save their friends. Lily pulled out her scroll and brought up a map of Remnant. The map showed all the continents and the locations of each kingdom's capital city.

"The Kingdom of Vacuo is this general area," she said, pointing to the western half of Sanus, the continent where Vale and Vacuo were located. "Shade Academy is located here, in Vacuo's main city." She pointed to a spot where Vacuo's symbol, three swords pointing downward toward a single spot, were located. "And that White Fang grunt we rescued said that their main base in that kingdom is 'quite a ways southwest of Shade.' That is admittedly a vague location, but it would put the base somewhere here." She pointed to a peninsula on the southwestern corner of the continent. "If we're going to succeed, we'll need the support of Shade Academy. We won't stand a chance against the sheer number of White Fang troops in that base by ourselves. Therefore, we will need to stop at Shade on the way to the base. We'll likely need to rest and resupply there anyway. Once we're there, we should talk to the headmaster, Professor Theodore, and convince him to lend his students to help us."

"But how are we going to get there?" asked Ouranos.

"There are two routes we can take," replied Lily. The first is by land. "We'll need to travel over the mountains of southwestern Vale and then cross over the desert to get to Shade," said Lily. "It'll be difficult. I estimate a twenty percent chance that we will die by starvation or thirst, and ten percent that we'll be killed by Grimm or bandits. Those are our odds on foot, anyway. If we drove there, they would be a lot better."

"So we have up to a thirty percent chance of dying on that route?" asked Autumn. "What about the other one?"

"The other option is to sail across the ocean to Shade," Lily said. "This would normally be the easiest option, but it will be very difficult to get a seaworthy vessel to take us across the water with all this chaos going on."

"Would it be possible to fly there?" Colby asked.

"No, for the same reason that it would be impossible to sail there," Lily said. "The civilian airlines will be closed for a while after this attack. And I highly doubt the Atlesians will be willing to use one of their airships to rescue the students of some other kingdoms' academy. And none of us know how to fly. But we could drive there if we had a car."

"Then it's settled. We'll 'borrow' one of Atlas's jeeps and set out tomorrow." He made air quotes when he said the word "borrow." "I don't know about you guys, but I'm exhausted." He slumped down on one of the tent's beds, more tired than he had ever been before. Soon, everyone else did the same.

The memories of the night haunted Team COAL as they slept, especially Colby and Lily. They relived every death they witnessed that night. They could still hear the chilling screams of those who were wounded or killed. Colby and Lily remembered the sense of guilt they felt when they killed humanoids for the first time. Sentient lives were gone from the earth forever because of them. Finally, Colby imagined Pyrrha and Ozpin dying alone in some corner of Beacon with no one to help them. He felt terrible about not being able to save them. Had he known their situations, he would have rushed to their aid. He swore that he would never let it happen again and risk everything to rescue those who were alive. That was how he would atone for his failure. Lily, meanwhile, was horrified at what her childhood friend Polaris had become. She had hoped that she would never have to fight him, and now felt incredibly burdened by the possibility that she would have to kill him to save everyone.

The team awoke the next morning and left the tent to "borrow" an Atlesian jeep. When they exited the tent, they saw Sun Wukong among the students outside. Colby decided to apologize to him too.

"Sun, I'm sorry for everything I said back in the arena," Colby said. "I realize now that I spent too much time focusing on my own fame and not enough time valuing others as my friends."

"I understand, Colby," Sun said. "The pursuit of fame is an easy trap to fall into. I'm one of the most famous hunters in Mistral and Vacuo, and I definitely know the feeling of having millions of people look up to you because of your fighting abilities. But I'm glad you finally see that fame isn't everything."

"I'm glad you're okay," Colby said. "But my team and I are headed to Shade. If you know Vacuo, you could help us get to Shade alive. Would you come with us?"

Sun shook his head. "Sorry, but I have to go find Blake. She means the world to me, and I can't let her put herself in more danger. But I can give you some advice."

"And what might that be?"

"Bring plenty of water, wear lots of sunscreen, and most importantly, don't trust anyone. That kingdom is full of scoundrels. There are honest people there too, but Shade is the only source of law and order in Vacuo. Also, the Grimm out there are much bigger and stronger than the ones here. They have to be in order to survive under those conditions."

"That's good advice," said Colby. "Thank you. I hope you find Blake."

The two hunters said goodbye. On their way out to the lot, they saw one more person they never expected to see:

"Mom?!" Colby asked in shock. Colby's mother, Chryssa Castanho, must have been evacuated to this camp as well. She was a tall woman, and she had long dark hair. Colby always had a strained relationship with his mother, who feared that he would suffer the same fate as his father. But in that moment, she and Colby were relieved to see each other alive. They hugged each other the moment they saw each other.

"I'm so glad you're safe, my son," his mom said with tears running down her face. "When I heard that the city was under attack, I worried myself half to death for your safety. Please, promise me you'll stop this hunter business and come home to live a safe, normal life."

"Mom, I know you're concerned about me and you want me to be safe," Colby said to her. "I appreciate it and I know you love me. But tragedies like this are exactly why I should keep fighting. I could cower in our city and pretend that evil doesn't exist, but it will come all the same. Evil isn't a pleasant reality to face, and most would prefer to ignore it. It takes a noble few to stand up to evil and face it so that everyone else can live their lives in safety, and those few are called hunters and huntresses. I cannot simply sit by and let these monsters overrun us."

"Your father held that exact same belief and he fell prey to the Grimm like so many others. Please, don't follow him into the grave!" She began to cry again. "I've already lost my husband. I can't afford to lose my son too!"

"This is what he would have wanted. Do you think he, who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect us, to protect YOU, would want me to sit back and let the monsters out there destroy everything he fought for? I have to do this for you, for him, and for all of humankind."

"You're just as stubborn as he was," said Colby's mother. She sighed, and then said, "It breaks my heart to see you leave me and put your life in danger again, but it seems I can't convince you. Just promise me you'll stay safe." She reached in and hugged him again. "And that you'll never forget that I love you."

"I promise, mom," Colby said as he let go of his mother and rejoined his team. On the inside, he was just as sad as she was. He loved her and wanted to stay with her, but his duty to his team, his friends, his school, his kingdom, and all of humanity came first.

As the team walked toward the lot, Lily began to spoke to them.

"Those vehicles are likely to be guarded," she said. "I'll need a way to get access to them, preferably without violence. I have something in mind to give the guards. I'll be right back." She left the team and returned about a minute later with a huge, goofy grin on her face. "Now we're ready."

They walked over to the makeshift lot where many jeeps and other vehicles were parked. At the entrance, they saw an Atlesian guard keeping watch. He turned toward them, holding a rifle.

"This area is off-limits. No one but members of the Atlesian military are allowed here," he said.

"Oh, come on. We just wanted to take a look at these state-of-the-art Atlesian vehicles," said Lily. "They're so much more advanced than those of Vale. I'd love to get to see one up close."

"Nice try, Lily Renarde," said the guard. "I recognized you from the tournament. You've had plenty of chances to see them, and you should have stayed in Atlas. We really could have used that sharp mind of yours. Shame it wasn't sharp enough to realize that I would recognize the faunus who left Remnant's model of law, order, and efficiency for this backwater corner of Sanus. Now I strongly suggest you and your team go back to the civilians' area before I call in backup."

"Ah yes, I thought you might say that," Lily said with a grin. "It's a shame I'm not hungry enough to eat this Snookers bar right now." She pulled out a chocolate bar with the word "SNOOKERS" on its wrapper. "I guess I'll just have to throw it away. I'd give it to you, but you're just a big jerk who won't let me see Atlas's awesome vehicles."

"Wait!" the guard shouted. "I'll let you see the vehicles if you give me the Snookers bar."

"Now that's what I like to hear," Lily said as she handed the Snookers bar to the guard.

"But I should warn you: if you get caught, I won't bail you out." The guard unwrapped the Snookers bar, took a bite out of it, and walked away.

The team entered the lot and found a jeep that looked like it could take them to Shade. They didn't have the key to it, so they lifted the hood and tried to hotwire it.

"A little bit of electric dust should get this thing started," said Lily. She applied a bit of electric dust to one of the car's batteries, and before long the car had started.

"Awesome!" shouted Autumn. "Shade, here we come!"

Colby wanted to say something to his team before they left. "Guys, I just want to let you know how much I appreciate you coming with me to do this. We've lost some good hunters. Penny. Pyrrha. Ozpin. My father years ago. But they never gave up, and they wouldn't want us to either. Our fellow students need our help, and I know that these brave souls, who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the place and the people they loved from monsters and barbarians, would do anything to save them, and now it's time for us to do the same. We will fight on, to honor their names!"

After that, everyone got into the jeep and drove off into the southwestern horizon toward Vacuo. They would save their friends or die trying.

**A/N: Updates may become less frequent from now on. As Team COAL moves away from Vale and the canon setting, I will have to undertake the difficult task of worldbuilding in a location that hasn't been visited in canon and I'm becoming a bit more busy IRL. **


	5. This Will be the Day

Team COAL drove southwest through the rugged countryside of Vale. As they moved deeper into the southwestern corner of the kingdom, the landscape became more and more mountainous and less and less populated. The roads became less and less developed as the team went on. They went from highways to backroads to gravel to dirt. The countryside was beautiful, especially with its view of the mountains, but it seemed endless. The team travelled all day through the massive kingdom and then spent the night in the jeep. They were wary of Grimm, and took turns keeping watch at different times of night. The next day, they got up and continued driving.

As they drove, Team COAL still felt burdened by the events that had happened during the last few days. They felt greatly saddened by the destruction of their school and the deaths of Pyrrha, Ozpin, and countless other Beacon students and faculty as well as civilians from Vale. They feared for the safety of their friends who had been taken by the White Fang, but also those who had remained in Vale and no longer had the walls of Beacon to keep them safe. Who would protect them now? They hoped that their friends back in Beacon were safe and that those who had been taken by the White Fang had at least not been physically harmed.

But as the team continued traveling, their sadness gave way to boredom with the seemingly endless countryside. The mountains went on and on, and it looked like they would never end. When they were driving on the side of a mountain over a canyon, they decided to play some music over the radio. Autumn wanted to listen to some rock and roll, but her teammates had other tastes in music.

"I'm bored!" Autumn whined. "I want to listen to some rock and roll!" She turned on the radio and started jamming to some rock music.

"Argh! That's too loud!" complained Lily. She turned the radio to another channel, this one playing some dubstep music. "That's better."

"Dubstep is garbage!" shouted Ouranos. He changed the channel to some country music. "Ah, that's much better."

"No, I hate country music!" Autumn protested as she changed the channel again. This time, it landed on a channel playing heavy metal.

"That music is too loud, even for me," Colby said as he changed the channel to what sounded like rap.

"Rap sucks!" Ouranos shouted. He flipped the channel again. Before long, the whole team was bickering over what kind of music to play. They flipped through many channels, including one that played hip-hop, one that played jazz, and one that played opera. No one could agree on which channel to play, and the car started to swerve. Finally, they landed on a particular channel that caused them to stop arguing. None of them had heard the song that was playing, but they were all intrigued by it. They heard a young woman singing the following words:

"_They see you and small and helpless._

_They see you as just a child_

_Surprise when they see that a warrior will soon run wild._

_Prepare for your greatest moments_

_Prepare for your finest hour_

_The dream that you've always dreamed is suddenly about to flower."_

Team COAL had never heard this song before, but something about the lyrics inspired hope in them again. This was exactly the song they needed to hear at the moment. Though they had suffered a defeat and lost their home and people close to them, they would defy everyone's expectations and save Beacon's next generation of hunters.

The song continued:

_"We are lightning_

_Straying from the thunder_

_Miracles of ancient wonder"_

At this point, the hunters felt the most invigorated they had been since before the Fall of Beacon. This song had come to them in their darkest hour and given them hope again. They started to sing along:

_"This will be the day we waited for_

_This will be the day we open up the door_

_I don't want to hear your absolution;_

_Get ready for a revolution._

_Welcome to a world of new solutions._

_Welcome to a world of bloody evolution._

_In time, your heart will open minds,_

_A story will be told,_

_And victory is in a simple soul."_

But just as the next part of the song began, the teammates heard an announcement over a megaphone. It came from outside their vehicle:

"This is the Atlesian army! You are driving stolen Atlesian government property! Pull over immediately or we will use deadly force!"

Looking into their rear view mirrors, the hunters saw three Atlesian jeeps in hot pursuit.

"The Atlesians must have tracked us here!" shouted Ouranos. "We'll have to fight them!"

"I can handle this!" Lily shouted. "I have the most accurate ranged weapon!"

"But Autumn and I can blow them right off the road!" Ouranos objected.

"We're not trying to kill them, Ouranos. They're just soldiers following orders, not Grimm or White Fang terrorists. Colby, you concentrate on driving. I'll deal with these guys!"

Lily got into the seat behind Colby, opened the window, leaned out, and prepared to shoot the tires of the Atlesian vehicles. On the radio, the song continued to play and set the mood for a good old-fashioned car chase.

Lily leaned out the window, readied her bow, and fired at the tires of the nearest Atlesian jeep. The driver swerved out of the way, pulled out his pistol, and fired back. Lily ducked back into the jeep, then fired another arrow straight at her opponent's front left tire, deflating it and forcing the driver to pull over.

Another jeep drove forward, and this time the man in the passengers' seat pulled out an ice dust grenade and lobbed it at Team COAL's car in an effort to immobilize it. Colby swerved over to the left, and the grenade missed its target and exploded, creating an icy spot on the road. Having failed to immobilize Team COAL, the Atlesians pulled out their guns and continued shooting at Lily, who, despite her efforts to dodge their shots, took a bullet to her left arm. Her aura protected her from any real injury, but she still felt the pain. She recoiled back, regained her strength, and fired a volley of her own arrows at the jeep. The arrows penetrated the jeep's tires, causing it to slow down and stop.

The third jeep accelerated toward Team COAL. The driver dodged the arrows that Lily fired at his vehicle and then drove up to Colby's left. The soldiers opened fire, and everyone had to duck quickly to avoid being hit.

"Guys, I'm jumping over there. Ouranos, take the wheel!" shouted Colby. He opened his door and used his semblance to jump onto the roof of the other car. One of the soldiers pulled out his gun and shot at Colby, but he missed and Colby kicked him in the head and caused him to fall onto the road. Colby hoped the man was alive. He swung down into the backseat and prepared to deal with the other Atlesians. One of the men threw a punch at him, but he grabbed the man's arm and retaliated with his own punch that knocked the man down. The other one pulled out a pistol and fired at Colby, but he missed and Colby finished him off with a few well-placed punches. Finally, Colby slid up to the front seat and punched the driver until he was unconscious. With all the Atlesians defeated, the car started to spin out of control without a driver. To ensure that the jeep stopped safely, Colby pulled the jeep's emergency break and jumped back into his team's vehicle before the Atlesians' car came to a complete stop. Quite fittingly, the song on the radio ended just as Colby jumped back into his team's jeep.

"That looks like the last of them!" shouted Colby.

Unfortunately, Team COAL didn't know that the Atlesians had one more trick up their sleeves. Having failed to reclaim their property, Atlas decided it would be better to destroy it and the thieving hunters to send a message to the other kingdoms than to let the thieves go unpunished. A few minutes later, an Atlesian airship flew down and fired a missile at Team COAL's jeep.

"Colby, look out!" shouted Autumn.

Colby swerved out of the way to avoid a direct hit, but the shockwaves of the blast launched the jeep over the edge of the mountain and into the canyon below. Deciding that nothing could survive such a fall, the airship left the area to pick up the survivors from Team COAL's car chase. The team would have been relieved to know that the Atlesians had all survived due to their auras.

The members of Team COAL jumped out the doors of the jeep. They were free-falling, and they would have to deploy their landing strategies if they were going to survive. Looking around, they saw trees. They held their weapons out, grabbed tree branches, and slid down to the ground safely. They landed safely on their feet, but the jeep hit the ground and shattered to pieces.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Lily.

"We're fine," replied Colby. Looking around, he saw that his teammates were all unharmed thanks to their auras and landing strategies. "But the jeep is totaled. We'll have to go the rest of the way to Shade on foot. How far are we from the desert? Or even the nearest town?"

Lily pulled up a map of Remnant on her scroll. "According to this map, we're very close to the end of the mountains. Once we're over the group of mountains called the Gates of Vale, we'll reach the border between Vale and Vacuo. It's a plain with many small trading towns on it, where we can rest for a few days and stock up on supplies before heading into the desert."

"Great, what's the best route over the Gates of Vale?"

"We could try going over the mountains, but it's very rocky and dangerous. There could be Grimm up there, and if it rains we could face mudslides. Plus, it's the longer way over the mountains. We would have to use up a lot of time and physical energy if we went that way."

"Is there another option?"

"Yes. There is an abandoned mineshaft under the Gates of Vale that leads from to the other side. It'll save us a lot of time and energy that we would have to spend going over the mountains, but the mines could be full of Grimm."

"It sounds like we could face Grimm either way, and at least this way we'll save time and not have to worry about the environmental factors. If there are Grimm under those mountains, we'll just blast our way to the other side."

"Yeah, we're Team COAL!" Autumn shouted. "Nothing's gonna stop us!"

"We'd better get a move on," said Colby. "We should try to reach the mines before dark."

The team walked through the canyon for several hours, during which clouds began to form in the skies above them. In the late afternoon, it began to rain. Team COAL was in low spirits. They had lost their home, and now they didn't even have a car and had to walk through the rain. To make matters worse, the Atlesians had been hunting them. But the team concluded that the Atlesians probably thought they were dead and would therefore not be giving them any more trouble at least for a while. They hoped that they would be pardoned after they saved their friends and explained everything.

The team continued walking and the sun started to go down. However, Autumn's Grimm Sense began to tingle and her dog ears perked up. "Guys, I think there are Grimm nearby!" she said fearfully.

"Really?" Colby asked as he readied his weapons. "Get ready to fight, everyone!"

Just then, a Nevermore swooped down toward Team COAL. It must have been attracted to the team's' negativity and decided to eat some hunters for dinner. It let out a screech and flew straight toward the hunters.

"Nevermore!" Ouranos shouted.

The bird descended on the team. Autumn let out a blast of music from her guitar, but the Grimm dodged the soundwaves and tried to swallow the hunters in its beak. The hunters dodged the attack and Lily fired a few arrows at the bird. The Nevermore, however, took advantage of its superior maneuverability, dodged the arrows and circled around for another attack.

While the bird was circling around, Autumn managed to slow the bird down with a sonic blast from her guitar. Having lost its momentum, the Nevermore readied its claws and swiped at the hunters, who all ducked under the claws and struck back with their own weapons, managing to strike at the bird's feet. The bird shrieked, took to the air, and prepared to strike again.

Let me handle this, everyone!" Colby shouted. He readied his tomahawks and waited for the Nevermore to attack again. He threw his tomahawks at the bird, which appeared to have dodged them at first. However, the tomahawks swung back around and clipped both of the Grimm's wings. The bird let out a horrible screech and fell to the ground, where it struggled to get back up. Before it could, Ouranos ran up to it and cut its head off with his axe. The Nevermore's head was severed and its body disintegrated into a dark mist.

"Let's get out of here before more Grimm show up!" Colby shouted.

The team picked up the pace and continued moving through the canyon. The sun sank lower and lower into the sky, causing them to become more and more fearful that more Grimm would attack them. But knowing that their fear would just attract more Grimm, they tried to blot the fear out of their minds and stay optimistic. They imagined themselves making it to Shade and convincing Theodore to support them. They pictured themselves raiding the White Fang's base and rescuing their friends. They and their friends would rebuild Beacon to be greater than it ever was before, and they would go down as heroes. They told themselves that they would survive and succeed no matter who or what got in their way, whether they be human, faunus, or Grimm.

Finally, they arrived at the entrance to the mines. And not a moment too soon, as the sun had completely set before they arrived. The mine entrance was nothing more than a hole in the side of the mountain that seemed to go down into a dark abyss. The team stepped into the cave entrance and lit their weapons with fire dust to get a look around. They saw gravel beneath their feet and what appeared to be railroad tracks with empty minecarts on them a few feet ahead. They could tell that the mineshaft went on for miles and the team experienced great dread when looking into the endless darkness, but they knew that the border with Vacuo was at the end. That thought was enough to make them plunge into the heart of even the deepest darkness.

"Through this mine is the path to Vacuo, Shade Academy, and our friends," Colby told everyone. "We'll rest here tonight. Tomorrow, we'll push through these mines and resupply when we get to the border. You all fought well today, but we'll need to save our strength to face whatever's down there."

Team COAL camped out in the mouth of the cave that night, afraid of what awaited them in the caves below but also determined to save their friends. No matter what they faced, they would push through the caverns and out the other side. They would fight all the way to Shade Academy.


	6. Into Darkness

The next morning, Team COAL awoke from their sleep. Sunlight was shining into the cave, but they knew that despite their instincts to turn back into the sunshine, they would have to plunge into the darkness before them. It was their only chance of ever saving their friends. They used fire dust to illuminate their weapons so that they could see in the dark.

"Alright team, let's move forward," said Colby.

The team walked through the dark corridors of the mineshaft, afraid of what might lie ahead but even more afraid for the future of Vale and the fates of their friends. The tunnel was long and wide with rails stretching as far into the darkness as they could see. There were also dust crystals on the walls and ceiling, lighting up the area around them. Even with no Grimm in the immediate area, Team COAL felt very nervous walking into this place. They continued walking forward for several hours in almost complete darkness and were on the lookout for the glowing red eyes that usually belonged to Grimm. They were afraid, but they tried as hard as they could to suppress their fear so that they would not attract those dreaded creatures. They wondered who had mined here in the past and why the mine had been abandoned, but they thought it was almost certainly due to Grimm. They felt sorry for anyone who had to work in a place like this.

"This place reminds me of my game, Blockworld!" Colby said in an effort to lighten the mood. Looking at his teammates, he could tell that no one was amused.

Moving ahead, the mineshaft started to widen and split off into several other tunnels. Team COAL decided to stay on the main path for the moment, but they weren't sure which way to go. Being lost in this cave would mean certain death by starvation or Grimm attacks. Their scrolls couldn't connect to the Internet underground, so they had to keep an eye out for signs that may have helped the miners find their way around when the mine was still in operation. Searching a wall to the right, they found a map.

"According to this, the western exit is several miles down this tunnel and on a much lower elevation than we are on now," said Lily. "There's an elevator ahead. We'll have to use it."

As the team ventured deeper into the mine, Autumn's Grimm sense began to tingle again. "Guys, I'm picking up Grimm!" she said fearfully. The team drew their weapons and proceeded carefully and ever alert. As they moved further, Autumn's Grimm sense became more and more intense.

Finally, they reached the elevator. It was wide enough to hold a minecart and enclosed in a cage-like structure. There was a sign at its entrance. Colby read the sign out loud:

"Warning: the area below has been closed due to extreme Grimm activity. For your own safety, do NOT use this elevator. We are not responsible for any death or injury that may result."

He turned to his teammates. "Well guys, you know what we have to do. Let's hope this elevator still works."

The team entered the elevator. Colby pressed the "down" button, and to everyone's relief the elevator still worked and team started descending downward. The trip into the lower parts of the mine felt like an eternity, and to make things worse Autumn's Grimm Sense became more and more intense the lower they descended. As much as they tried to hide it, the members of Team COAL were very afraid of what awaited them below.

Finally, the elevator reached its destination and opened its cage-like door into a long, dark corridor. Moving forward, however, they noticed that their feet had stepped into something sticky. The substance was not thick enough to impede their movement, but it was an annoyance to the hunters. Looking around, they saw what appeared to be spider webs on the walls and ceiling.

"Looks like we're in a pretty 'sticky situation,' huh?" asked Autumn. No one was amused, and their annoyance at the dog faunus's pun was nothing compared to the fear they were about to feel. Peering into the darkness, they saw dozens of glowing red eyes moving toward them rapidly.

"Grimm!" Lily shouted.

As the Grimm moved closer, their features became visible: their features were spider-like, and aside from the usual spider traits such as eight legs and several eyes, they were the size of large dogs. Lily and Autumn opened fire with their weapons, and managed to stop a few from coming. The rest moved in and attacked the team. They lunged forward, baring their venomous fangs.

Colby jumped up and kicked one of the spiders out of the air before it could bite him, then landed and stomped on its head. He turned around and slashed at another Grimm, killing it quickly. However, several more spiders rushed toward him and they were starting to become too much to handle.

"Colby!" Autumn shouted fearfully. She rushed over to help him, and used her guitar to smash some of the spiders at melee range. Colby regained his strength, got back up, and continued to slash at the spiders until they disintegrated. Together, the two hunters were able to drive the spiders away from themselves.

Meanwhile, Lily danced her way around the battlefield, dodging the spiders' attacks and retaliating by firing arrows at the Grimm. She jumped over a large group of them, firing arrows at them from above and causing them to disintegrate. Looking over, she could see that Ouranos was doing his best to fight off the Grimm with his axe. He swung at them, swerved out of their lines of attack, and jumped as much as he could, but he was growing tired and his attacks became slower. Lily fired a few arrows at a group of spiders he was facing, and the arachnids died and disappeared in a dark mist. Upon regaining his strength, Ouranos charged forward and killed the last spider by bringing his axe down on its body.

"I've never seen spider Grimm before," said Lily.

"They must be a species that only lives underground," Autumn speculated. "Port would be proud. We've discovered a whole new kind of Grimm."

"But we have to live to tell about it," replied Colby. "We must be prepared for whatever lies ahead."

"Alright, let's keep moving."

The team continued walking through the corridor and encountered more spider webs, cutting them down and continuing through the tunnel. Fear continued to bubble up inside them. They had encountered giant spider-like Grimm, and they could only imagine what other horrors lived deep beneath the foundations of the earth. Up ahead, the mineshaft became narrower and there was a turn to the left. Going around the corner, the teammates found the skeleton of a dead miner. He was dressed in mining gear including a hard hat, and his pickaxe was still lying by his side.

"This poor guy didn't make it out," said Lily. "But he might have something on him that could help us figure out what else might be down here and get a better sense of where we're going." She searched the man's pockets and found a note.

"Here we are," she said. "Let's see if he wrote anything useful on this thing." The note was made of old, dusty paper and the handwriting was a little bit difficult to read. Lily was sure that the man had written it during his final hours. She read the note out loud:

"We've been down here for days. Everything was going okay until a few days ago when those...things attacked. Big spider Grimm. We were unprepared. All we had were pickaxes and most of us didn't last a minute against them. Those who weren't killed right away died from the spiders' venom afterward. A little while ago, I heard the ground shake beneath me and I think the spiders are the least of the horrors that dwell beneath these mountains. I think whatever's gnawing at the earth must have disturbed those things. I'm holed up here for now, but I'm gonna high-tail it to the elevator whenever I get the chance. When I get out of here, the boss had better pay me double."

"Poor guy," said Autumn. "But if those spiders are the least of our concerns, then we must tread carefully. Who knows what could be waiting for us down here?"

Ouranos was visibly shaken by what he had heard. His face was pale, and his hands were balled into fists. Everyone could tell that he was simultaneously terrified and enraged.

Seeing her teammate's emotional condition, Lily tried to figure out what had so enraged him. "What's wrong, Ouranos?"

"It's just like when I grew up in the mountains of eastern Vale," the muscular blond boy replied. "My family and I were poor and we had to mine dust for a living. We had to deal with Grimm all the time and I saw many miners die. We mostly fought against Beowolves and Ursai, and for a while miner death was the exception rather than the rule."

"But what happened?" asked Autumn.

"One day, we dug too deep and encountered a Grimm unlike anything we had ever seen before. I didn't get a close view of it, but it could burrow through stone and it had tentacles. It killed and ate so many of our miners and I was one of only a few who made it out."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Ouranos. But how did you make it out?"

"I used my semblance to push a large boulder in front of the part of the mine where we found the creature. I'm thankful that my parents were among those who survived, but it was that incident that led me to become a huntsman in the first place. I wanted to keep the mines safe from monsters like the one I encountered on that day."

"Well, now's your chance for revenge against those creatures," Colby said. "Whatever's down here, we'll have to face it to get out to the other side."

Just then, something creeped up behind Colby. It was completely silent, catching him entirely by surprise until it made a loud hissing sound that startled everyone.

"Colby, behind you!" Lily shouted as she fired an arrow behind him, hitting the creature and killing it. The animal was a Grimm, so its body disappeared quickly. Colby turned around in the few seconds before the creature disappeared. To his horror, it was a humanoid Grimm with no arms, spindly legs, and a perpetual frown on its face. He knew exactly what it was: an exploder from his game, Blockworld.

"Exploders are real?!" Colby cried out in disbelief. "This is bad. Those creatures caused enough damage to my sanity by blowing up all my buildings in Blockworld. We live in a truly dark world if those creatures exist. But out of all the Grimm that could kill us down here, this is the one that I refuse to let kill me! Let's go!"

The team continued down the mineshaft. Looking ahead, they could see more glowing red eyes, which belonged to spiders and exploders that were hell-bent on killing them. "This is for all my buildings in Blockworld!" Colby shouted as he charged forward. Nothing could stop him. He knew that charging at exploders would mean almost certain death, but he was too enraged over the destruction of his imaginary houses to care.

"Colby, take it easy!" Lily shouted as she pulled out her bow and started covering Colby. She hit a few exploders before they could get close to him, and he cut a spider Grimm's head off before jumping into the air and throwing a tomahawk at another exploder, killing it instantly. When he landed, he parried a strike from a spider and slashed open its stomach before turning to an exploder and beheading it.

Autumn and Ouranos joined in, smashing several spiders with their weapons at close range because they were afraid to catch Colby in their ranged attacks. They charged forward, slashing and smashing their way through the monsters. Autumn smashed a spider to pieces before turning around and doing the same to another. An exploder appeared behind her, but Ouranos ran forward and chopped it in half with an axe. Before long, the Grimm were all dead.

"Good work, everybody," said Colby. "Let's keep moving."

Further ahead, the mines descended downward on a slope that seemed endless. On the way, they found many other skeletons like the one they had found the note on. The sight of these skeletons filled them with sadness for the fates of the miners, anger at the greed of the mining companies and the ruthlessness of the Grimm, and fear that they would meet the same fate. Despite their fears of what might lay ahead and the continued tingling of Autumn's Grimm sense, they moved forward. It was their only hope of saving their friends. Before long, it opened up into an incredibly large chamber with dust crystals scattered all over the walls, floor, and ceiling. Stalactites jutted down from the ceiling and stalagmites rose from the floor. Team COAL stood in awe of this sight, amazed that even in the dark, monster-infested caves under the Gates of Vale, great beauty could exist.

"So this is what they were looking for? Asked Lily. "This is amazing. It's unfortunate that dust had to be used as a weapon. It really is a beautiful thing, and if the world was a safer place we could leave more beauty like this around for everyone to enjoy."

Ouranos answered the fox faunus in a sad voice. "Sorry Lily, but such a world could never exist. Grimm have plagued our world for as long as humans have been around, and they will likely be here long after we're gone."

"Don't be like that, Ouranos," Colby said to his teammate. "We've all had enough negativity today. We're standing in the midst of beauty, and we can't be far from the exit. What could possibly go wrong?"

As if to answer Colby's question, Autumn suddenly shouted, "Guys, I'm picking up a super powerful Grimm headed our way!" Beneath everyone, the ground started shaking. Then, an enormous worm-like Grimm emerged from the floor of the cave. This Grimm had a large mouth full of razor sharp teeth and numerous tentacles stemming from its body, which appeared to be covered in scales. Its appearance was absolutely terrifying.

"That's the Grimm species that killed all those miners back in my hometown!" Ouranos shouted.

"Well, now's your chance for revenge! Do it in the name of all the dead miners!" shouted Colby.

Ouranos fired a rocket at the creature, which quickly burrowed back underground. The rocket hit a dust crystal formation on the far wall, causing a huge explosion. The hunters had to scatter to avoid being hit by the burning dust crystal shards, and the Grimm emerged from the ground and started flailing away at the hunters with its tentacles. The teammates jumped up, rolled, or ducked their way out of the tentacles' paths. Colby pulled out his tomahawks and cut a tentacle off. The creature screamed and continued attacking, this time grabbing Lily by her heel and pulling her toward its maw.

"Lily!" Colby shouted as he threw a tomahawk in her direction. It cut the tentacle in half, freeing Lily. The arctic fox faunus then loaded her bow and fired a volley of arrows at the creature's body, but they seemed to do little other than irritate the worm. Colby also threw a tomahawk at the body, but it did little damage. To everyone's dismay, the Grimm's tentacles grew back less than a minute after being cut off.

"We're going to need to bring out the heavy artillery to take this thing down!" Autumn shouted as she played her guitar and blew some of the tentacles away from her. "Ouranos, can you get a clear shot with your rocket launcher?'

"Negative!" the tall blond boy replied as he narrowly dodged one of the creature's tentacles and chopped it off with his axe. "Not with all these tentacles waving around."

"We'll need to work together to make sure Ouranos gets a clear shot!" Colby shouted as he jumped over a tentacle and landed on his feet.

Lily spoke up. "If we time our attacks right, we could use ice dust to freeze this Grimm's tentacles long enough for Ouranos to get a shot at the body. Colby, when I say so, use your semblance to jump up and then set your tomahawks' dust setting to ice." She rolled to avoid being crushed by a tentacle before she continued speaking. "You'll need to throw them around and freeze as many tentacles as you can. I'll shoot off a bunch of ice arrows to do the same. Autumn, once the tentacles are frozen, let out a sonic blast to shatter them. Once all that's done, Ouranos should fire off a rocket toward the worm's body! Everyone ready?"

"Ready!" Colby shouted as he ducked under a tentacle.

"Now!" shouted Lily.

Colby used his semblance to jump over twenty feet into the air, loading his tomahawks with dust on his way up. He threw them, and they flew around and froze every tentacle they came in contact with. The creature roared in pain, but it could not move the tentacles that had been affected. Before Colby hit the ground, Lily opened a barrage of arrows that hit even more tentacles, freezing them in place.

"Now, Autumn!" Colby said.

The dog faunus let out a sonic blast from her guitar, shattering all of the frozen tentacles. The creature roared in pain and rage, and its body was exposed.

"Shoot it, Ouranos! We don't have long before its tentacles regenerate!" Lily yelled over to her teammate.

Ouranos wasted no time firing his rocket launcher at the worm. The rocket hit its target and exploded, killing the Grimm. The creature gave out one last cry of rage before falling to the ground and disintegrating.

"We did it!" Colby shouted.

"Now the miners who died down here can rest in peace," Ouranos said solemnly. "I'm glad we were able to strike a blow against these terrible creatures, even though they're not the same ones that killed all those people from my village back in eastern Vale."

"Let's get out of here before more Grimm show up."

The team exited through a tunnel on the other side of the chamber. They were nervous of more Grimm while exiting the place, but did not encounter any. Though they were tired from their fight and starting to wonder if they would ever reach an exit, they were satisfied that they were able to put an end to the creature that had caused so much death. At the same time, however, they wondered what other unknown horrors existed deep below the mountains. They hoped they would never have to find out.

At long last, the team saw light shining down through an opening in the cave. The sight of the sunlight filled them with indescribable joy. They emerged from the cavern and looked down from the mountain to behold a vast open plain filled with green grass with a few trees scattered around Eventually, the grass gave way to sand. The team was sure that this was where the desert started. It was afternoon and the sun was hanging in the western sky.

"We made it!" Lily cried out in relief.

"Where to now?" asked Colby.

Lily pulled out her scroll, which could pull up a map again now that they were above ground. "We're less than a hundred miles from the border with Vacuo. This plain is a valuable trade route because it's the last place travelers from Vale can stop before entering the desert. A few miles west of here is a town called Nowhere. We can stop and rest there, and resupply."

"Why's it called Nowhere?" asked Autumn.

"It's called that because it's the last town that travelers can stop in before entering the vast expanse of the desert. We should head there now before the sun goes down. There could be Grimm on these plains."

Team COAL headed down from the mountain proud of the fact that they had survived the caverns and the Grimm that called it home. At the same time, they knew that it would be a long and difficult journey across the desert to reach Shade Academy. Colby remembered Sun's advice: to bring plenty of water, wear lots of sunscreen, and not to trust anybody.

Eventually, the team came upon a sign that said, "Welcome to Nowhere." Beyond it was a small town filled with houses, shops, and other buildings built out of wood and stone. It was an old-fashioned town, with a dirt road and no cars in sight. In the streets of the town, residents were going about their business buying, selling, and holding casual conversations.

"This is it," said Lily. "Let's go try to find somewhere to eat, resupply, and spend the night before we go into the desert."

**A/N: the giant worm-like Grimm is based on the Thresher from Borderlands 2. I'm entering one of my busiest times of the year, so updates may slow down from now on.**


	7. Heating Up

The team walked through the gravel streets of Nowhere and looked for places where they could eat, stock up on supplies, or spend the night. They were all very hungry from their journey under the mountains, so they decided to eat first. Walking into the town's square, they saw a bar with a sign over its front entrance that said, "Sandy Spring Bar."

Colby was overjoyed to see a place where he and his teammates could eat. "That looks like a good place! Let's go!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" whined Autumn. "I'm so hungry!"

They walked into the bar to find that the place was full of rowdy, drunken customers who were conversing with each other, laughing, and enjoying their day. They walked toward the counter to order food and drinks. As they sat down, Colby asked Lily a very important question.

"Lily, what's the drinking age in this town?" he asked.

"We're technically still in Vale, so the drinking age is seventeen," she replied. Like most first-year students at Beacon, the members of Team COAL were seventeen and therefore legally allowed to drink even though Beacon's rules prohibited its students from drinking or possessing alcohol on school grounds. "Vacuo has no minimum drinking age, so you can drink as much as you want when you reach Shade as long as it doesn't affect your ability to carry out your duty."

The bartender walked up to the hunters. "Welcome to the Sandy Spring Bar," he said. "What can I get you?"

"We'll each take some of your famous Sandy Spring beer," said Lily.

"Certainly! And what would you like to eat?"

"I'll have a cheeseburger," Colby said.

"I'd like a smoked salmon," Ouranos answered.

"I'll have a steak!" replied Autumn, who was overcome by her dog instincts at the moment.

"I'd like a chicken sandwich," replied Lily.

As the bartender went to give the team's orders to the kitchen, they heard the conversations of those around them. One drunken patron was joking to his companion who was seated next to him. He was muscular, had short, dark hair, and a mustache. His skin was slightly tan from the desert. He was wearing tan armor that appeared to be designed to blend into the desert, and he was carrying a sword on his belt. He was a huntsman, probably from Vacuo. He was laughing.

"That attack on Beacon just shows that the shoft-bellied huntersh of Vale don't have the shtomach to sur'ive in this har' world," said the huntsman. "We have one rule in Vacuo, which is that those strong enough to survive are welcome. But from the images I saw on TV that night, none of those weaklings would last a week in Va'uo! Ha ha!" He laughed.

The huntsman's words brought out an indescribable anger in Colby. After witnessing all the horrors of the attack on Beacon and losing his home, his headmaster, and countless fellow students, he simply could not tolerate anyone saying such things about his school.

"Did that son of a bitch just say what I think he said?" Colby asked.

"Let it go, Colby, that guy's a full-fledged huntsman!" Lily begged him fearfully. "He'll obliterate you!"

"No one talks about Beacon like that and gets away with it!" He got up from his chair and marched over to the drunken huntsman.

"Hey buddy! I think you owe me an apology!" he said furiously. "I'm a survivor of the Fall of Beacon! Your words are an insult to me and my school!"

"Wha.." he asked with the smell of alcohol filling the air around him. He said his next words slowly, being in his drunken stupor. "I just said the truth. If that school and its residensh' couldn't sur'ive the 'tack, then there's no way they could (hiccup) survive out in the deshert. The Grimm out there are hardened by years of survival in the toughest conditions in the world. The students of Beacon were weak, and they died like weaklings."

"That's enough! If you say one more word like that about Beacon or any of its hunters, I'll show you just how much of a weakling you are!"

"Oh, so this weakling from Beacon thinks he can beat a seasoned hunter from Vacuo?" He laughed. "Give it your best shot. I'll prove once and for all that you're all a bunch of wushes."

Colby had enough. "AAAARRRRGH!" he shouted as he threw a punch at the huntsman, who blocked his attack, got up, and threw a kick at Colby. Even in his drunken stupor, this man's skills were solid. But Colby hoped that the man's drunkenness would weaken him enough for Colby to gain the advantage.

The entire bar was cheering, apparently excited by the fight and eager to see someone's bones get broken. The other members of Team COAL, on the other hand, were nervous for their teammate. Colby punched with his right hand, then his left. The man dodged both of those and grabbed Colby by his left arm and swung him onto the floor. Hurt but still able to fight, Colby got back up and countered with another volley of punches. The man was tough, but his drunkenness had made him sloppy. He threw a roundhouse kick at Colby, who then grabbed his foot and swung him toward the wall.

"Argh! That's it!" the huntsman roared as he pulled out his sword. His drunken fight with Colby had just become an attempted murder. "_I'm taking him down now," _Colby thought to himself. He swayed out of the way of the huntsman's blade and then pulled out his own weapons. Not wanting to kill the huntsman, he locked blades with the drunkard one more time, then kneed the man in the gut and finished him off with an uppercut. The whole bar cheered, but Colby's teammates looked on in dejected silence.

"You disgust me," Colby said to his fallen opponent in contempt. "A pathetic drunken wretch like you who can't even beat a first year Beacon student in a barroom brawl has no right to call himself a hunter." He spat in his opponent's face and walked back to his seat, satisfied that he had defended Beacon's honor.

He sat down with his teammates, and Lily gave him a glare. He looked over at her and asked, "What?"

"Colby, you can't just go around beating people up like that! He's a professional huntsman, and you only beat him because he was drunk! If he had been sober, he would have been 90% likely to beat you. Even drunk, he still had a 60% chance of beating you."

"He insulted Beacon's honor, and so he was struck down by the Gray Lightning. I have merely fulfilled my obligation to my school by defending its pride."

"Colby, you have to be able to let things go. If we just beat each other up whenever someone insulted us, there would be mass chaos."

"Enough! I cannot forgive anyone who says such things about our school. Many of our friends died defending it and many others fell into the hands of the enemy. To let people insult our school and call us weak is the ultimate insult to our brave hunters."

The team continued eating their dinner. As Lily continued eating, she became increasingly concerned about her leader's emotional state. "_He's acting like this because of the horrors he experienced during the Fall of Beacon. I've got to help him," _she thought to herself.

The team finished their dinners, drank their beers, and walked to the nearest motel. The sun was starting to go down, and the teammates were exhausted from their journey under the mountain. The motel looked old-fashioned and a bit run down, but it the hunters would have to make do with what they had. "We can spend the night here and then resupply in the morning," Colby said.

They entered the lobby, looked around, and saw that the place looked even more run-down on the inside. The carpet was crusty and the walls were painted a shade of blue that looked like they hadn't been painted in decades. They rented a room from the receptionist and then walked up the creaking stairs to their room, which was just as run-down as the lobby. The floor was crusty, the paint on the wall was peeling, and the beds were creaky.

"We'll spend the night here," Colby said. "Get plenty of rest, for tomorrow we will enter the desert. It could be weeks, even months, before we have the comfort of sleeping in a real bed again."

The sun went down and the members of Team COAL went to bed, exhausted from their day. While they slept, Colby relived the horrors of the Fall once again.

Colby remembered all the horrible sights, sounds, and smells from that night and the terror and sadness he felt when he saw his home get invaded and destroyed. He relived the horror he felt when he saw Pyrrha kill Penny and when he had to kill for the first time. He felt his hands dripping with the blood of all the faunus he had killed. He remembered the shame he felt when he saw Brick, his teammates, and dozens of other students get kidnapped. The news of Pyrrha and Ozpin's deaths echoed through his mind over and over again, reminding him of the fact that he could not protect all of his fellow students. He saw the faces of everyone who arrived at the Atlesian refugee camp. They had lost everything and had nowhere to go because Colby and the hunters of Beacon had failed to protect their city. Who would protect them now?

The last thing he remembered the time he and Lily had fought Polaris, but this time he lost. He slashed at Polaris as hard and fast as he could and did his best to block and dodge the polar bear faunus's attacks, but in the end he was outclassed. Polaris stuck one of his claws into Colby's stomach, and Colby fell to the ground, bleeding and unable to do anything to save himself.

"Colby!" Lily shouted as she fired a volley of arrows toward Polaris, who then jumped out of the way. Lily pulled out her knife and tried slashing at her opponent, but he just casually grabbed her hand as she tried to stab him and shoved a claw into her stomach. She was dead before she even hit the ground.

"LILY!" Colby cried out in horror.

Polaris walked over to his fallen enemy with a malicious smile on his face. "You're pathetic, human. You failed to protect your school, your people, and even your own teammate. You're a disgrace to your father's legacy." The polar bear faunus then raised his claw to finish Colby off.

"No! NO!" Colby shouted as the blade plunged into him and he died.

"Colby, keep it down!" a familiar voice shouted as Colby woke up and Ouranos was standing over him. He was in the motel, and sunlight was shining through the window. It was morning.

"You've been talking and shouting in your sleep all night," said Autumn. "Something is wrong. I can sense it."

"Pfft! You all don't know what you're talking about. I'm feeling better now than I have since before the Fall of Beacon! We're safe and sound on the other side of the mountains and Shade Academy is just across the desert. What could I possibly have to be upset about right now?"

"You don't seem to have gotten over the Fall of Beacon yet Colby," Lily said. "You've seen some horrible stuff. We all have. We're here to talk to you whenever you need it."

"You all are out of your minds. I'm as fine as I'll ever be right now. We'd better get into town and resupply. Then, we'll head into the desert."

The team left the motel room and headed to the town square to stock up on supplies. But while they were on their way to the stores, Colby's teammates couldn't help but worry about him. He was arrogant and could be a bit of a jerk sometimes, but he was their leader and friend. He had been since the pairs that would become Team COAL picked up the black kings on initiation day. They were determined to help him somehow.

The members of Team COAL entered the marketplace and bought all sorts of items they would need for their journey through the desert. They bought food, water, medical supplies, dust, and new ammunition for Lily and Ouranos, who were running low. They met many people in town, most of whom were friendly. Some of the townsfolk recognized the members of the team from the Vytal tournament, which had been broadcast on television. The people reacted to the presence of Team COAL in numerous ways. Some admired their courage and skill and were happy to see them, and others blamed them for the Fall of Beacon and berated them or simply refused to speak to them. But when they prepared to leave town, one character in particular stood out to them.

This man was wearing a cap, a white shirt,and overalls. He spoke in a southern accent and appeared to be a stereotypical hillbilly. He carried a gun on his belt and seemed to be one of the huntsmen tasked with protecting the town.

"Y'all lost?" he asked them. "Vale is back that way," he pointed east. "Y'all soft-bellied hunters in training would be much more comfortable back there.

"We're going across the desert to Shade Academy," said Colby.

"You're going into the desert?" He asked. "I take my hat off to you in respect." He removed his hat. "Respect for the dead!" He slapped his knee and started laughing hysterically. Team COAL was not amused. They just stared at him and said nothing.

The man stopped laughing and put his hat back on. "You four dipsticks ain't gonna last ten seconds over the border!" He pointed to a sign that said, "Welcome to Vacuo." This sign was riddled with bullet holes.

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" Colby declared as he and his team walked past the sign. A few moments later, a group of armed men walked up to them. These men were dressed in tan clothing that was designed to blend into the desert, and they were carrying rifles. "Give us everything you've got," demanded the leader of the group.

"Are you...robbing us?" asked Colby.

"Yes! The man said in an irritated voice.

"Oh.." Colby said with a sinister smile.

Colby and his teammates fought back against the robbers, kicking them to the ground in a matter of seconds. They all got back up and ran away as fast as they could.

"How many seconds was that?" asked Colby.

"Twelve." the man replied.

"In your face!" the hunters in training all shouted in unison. They slapped their knees and started laughing hysterically.

"_They're dead,"_ the hillbilly thought to himself.

Team COAL continued into Vacuo, satisfied with the knowledge that they had survived what was now their first twenty seconds in the kingdom. As the town faded further and further from view, the grass started to look more and more dead. Eventually, it turned into dirt and sand. They had arrived in the desert.

The environment was desolate and hostile, with scorching heat, very few trees, and the occasional cactus. The members of Team COAL feared Grimm attacks and death from starvation or thirst, but nothing would stop them. They would brave the heat and the Grimm horrors that awaited them all the way to Shade Academy.


	8. Desolation

Team COAL trekked through the desert of Vacuo for many days, which eventually turned into weeks. The days were long and hot, and the nights were dark and cold. The sun's scorching rays beat down on them relentlessly, and the area around them was brown and sandy as far as the eye could see. Apart from the occasional cactus, tree, or Grimm attack, the last of which was usually dealt with quickly but was becoming increasingly troublesome, there were no signs of life. Although they had packed water with them, it was a finite supply. They needed to find another source before their current amount ran out.

"_This place is hotter than Menagerie," _thought Autumn.

"_It was a mistake to wear this armor into the desert," _Ouranos thought to himself.

"_I've gone from the chilling cold of Mantle to the scorching heat of Vacuo. I've really seen it all," _Lily thought to herself.

"_This heat...It feels as though I've walked into hell itself," _Colby mused.

They continued walking, wary of Grimm and searching as hard as they could for new sources of water. Though they found plenty of Grimm, they found no new sources of water in the barren land. To make matters worse, the Grimm were getting bigger and stronger the further the team traveled, just like Sun had warned. Only the strongest Grimm could survive these conditions, and Grimm usually became bigger and stronger the longer they lived.

"Colby...We've got to stop and rest," Ouranos panted.

"We can't stop now!" Colby barked back. "We've made it all the way to the desert, and Shade Academy is only on the other side. Our friends need us and we musn't fail them!"

"Colby, we won't be of any help to them if we die before we get to Shade!" Lily retorted. "If we don't stop now, there's a 45% chance that we will die of heat exhaustion by the end of the day. We must stop."

"But we have to find another source of water. Every second we spend without finding one is another second closer to death."

"You can't argue with statistics, Colby. We have to rest."

Colby sighed. "Alright," he reluctantly agreed. They all sat down in the sand and each drank a sip of their last water.

"Colby, we're worried about you," said Lily. "You've been talking in your sleep, picking fights with drunken huntsmen, and you just seem to have a lot of anger problems lately. Something's wrong, we know it."

"Preposterous," Colby replied. "I'm just doing what needs to be done for the sake of our school, its honor, and all who fell in battle on that dreadful night."

"They wouldn't want you to pick fights with random strangers, Colby," said Autumn. "If they saw your behavior, they would know that something's wrong. Just admit it, you're acting irrationally because of the horrors you witnessed during the Fall. The sooner you admit it, the sooner you'll feel better."

"Guys, I'm fine. But if we keep sitting here, not looking for water or trying to reach Shade, we won't be."

"Colby, the Fall had an impact on all of us," Ouranos told him. "There's no shame in admitting it."

Colby was angry. "That's enough! I knew sitting down here would be a waste of time. We need to keep moving." Not wanting to anger their leader further, his teammates reluctantly got back up and continued walking. However, their argument had produced more negativity than they liked to admit. A few miles later, they all heard growling coming from behind them.

"It's an Ursa!" shouted Ouranos.

They turned around and faced the creature. It was the largest, fiercest-looking Ursa they had ever seen. It was at least twice as large as any they had seen in Vale. The huntsman back in Nowhere may have been a drunkard and a disrespectful loudmouth, but he was right about one thing: Vacuo had the strongest Grimm in the world.

The Ursa lunged forward and attempted to strike at the members of Team COAL with its claws, and they all jumped out of the way. It turned and swiped at Colby with its claws, and he ducked under them, jumped onto the creature's back, and attempted to strike at it with his tomahawks. To his astonishment, the attacks did no damage. "We're gonna need to bring out the heavy artillery on this one!" he shouted.

"I'm on it!" Ouranos shouted as he readied his rocket launcher. "Jump out of the way, and I'll hit it with a rocket!" Colby did so, and Ouranos fired a rocket at the Grimm.

The Ursa jumped out of the way before the rocket hit the sand and created a large explosion that threw the stuff everywhere. The ursa jumped back at the team, and everyone scrambled out of the way.

"For such a large Grimm, that thing sure moves fast!" Lily shouted."I'll try to immobilize it with an ice dust arrow!" She readied her bow and fired an arrow tipped with ice dust toward one of the animal's limbs. The arrow flew through the air and hit the Ursa's left foreleg before it could react. It was frozen in place.

Wasting no time, Ouranos fired a rocket at the creature. The rocket hit the Ursa and exploded, killing it instantly and causing its body to fall into the sand, where it disintegrated into a dark mist.

"There may be more Grimm around here," said Autumn. "We have to get out of here now!"

The team kept moving as far away from the spot as they could, but they were growing increasingly desperate. If they did not find water soon, they would die. If they stayed put, they would die. And the faster they moved, the more they would need the water. Slowing down, however, would only increase their chances of being killed by Grimm. No matter what they did, they would only hasten their demise. They could only hope that they would stumble upon some water along the way.

As they ran, Autumn's Grimm sense slowly became less and less intense. When they were sure that there were no longer any Grimm nearby, Team COAL slowed down and looked over their surroundings. The area around them was still brown and desolate, and the afternoon sun was hanging in the western sky. Looking further into the sky, however, they saw that there was smoke rising into the sky a few miles away.

"That smoke...could there be people out here?" asked Autumn.

"There's a very high probability that the smoke was caused by humans or faunus," Lily explained. "We should probably head over there. They may have some water to give us."

"But what if they're bad people?" asked Ouranos. "Like bandits, or even more White Fang?"

"We don't have much of a choice," said Colby. "If we don't get water soon, we're dead. If they are bad people, then we don't have to feel bad about making them die instead."

"Alright, let's go!" shouted Autumn. The teammates headed toward the source of the smoke with their weapons drawn, ready to deal with whatever new threat they encountered. The source of the smoke was actually many miles further away than it appeared, but the members of Team COAL did not lose hope. Remembering their duty to Beacon Academy and its people, both living and dead, they kept moving until they finally reached their destination.

They arrived in what appeared to be the desolate ruins of a village. The buildings were all charred husks of what they once were, the bodies of humans and faunus were lying on the ground, and the stench of death filled the air. This scent was all too familiar to the members of Team COAL, as was the sight of such devastation.

"_I take back what I thought earlier," _Colby thought to himself. "_It seems hell has stepped into our world." _He turned to his teammates. "Whatever happened here must have happened fairly recently. These bodies are still fresh, and there may be survivors here. Spread out and search for them."

The teammates walked around the ruins of the village, looking for any signs of life. On the ground, there was nothing but bodies, pieces of wood and stone, and other miscellaneous items that once belonged to the town's inhabitants. But as they walked around, they eventually encountered an enormous footprint. It looked like it belonged to an enormous bear, perhaps another Ursa. If so, it belonged to a Grimm far larger than the one they encountered in the desert.

"This footprint is huge," said Autumn. "Do you think an Ursa could have made this?"

"No. This footprint belongs to a creature far, far worse," said a mysterious male voice.

The team turned around and saw a bearded man dressed in tattered clothing. He had a broken, desperate look in his eyes, as if he had lost everything in the destruction that had unfolded. The man appeared to be one of the town's residents, and perhaps the only survivor of its destruction. "Who are you?" Ouranos asked.

"First, I should know who you are," the man replied. "You did walk into our town, after all."

"We are Team COAL, formerly students of Beacon Academy," Colby told the man. "My name is Colby Castanho, and these are my companions, Ouranos Chryseos, Autumn Ashford, and Lily Renarde."

"You're from Beacon Academy?" the man asked, a little surprised to see Beacon students so far from Vale. "What are you doing all the way out here? Are you headed to Shade?"

"Yes we are," Colby replied. "But we answered your question, so now it's your turn to tell us who you are."

"I am Brenton Boyd, a huntsman and resident of this town. Or at least I used to be, before the Beast attacked."

"What's the Beast?" Colby asked.

"It's an ancient Grimm monster that has prowled the deserts of Vacuo for centuries, raiding villages and killing humans and faunus indiscriminately. I'll tell you more about it, but you all look exhausted and thirsty. I have a well outside my house, and then you could follow me to my cellar where it's safe. Then, I can tell you more about the Beast."

"Thank you very much," Lily said. "You just saved our lives."

Team COAL followed Brenton behind his house, where they each drew a cup of water from the well. They had been dying of thirst, and they felt like the water had revitalized them and brought them back to life. They swore that they would never take water for granted again like they did at Beacon. They didn't know who this huntsman was, but at the moment they were too thankful to care. However, they were very afraid of this "Beast." If it could destroy an entire village, then they were no match for it.

The team entered the cellar, which was a dark, cool area that smelled of wine and had a few barrels of the liquid lying around. Everyone sat down on the floor, and then Brenton lit a candle and started talking to the students.

"As I've said before, the Beast is a legendary Grimm that roams the deserts of Vacuo." He pulled out a book entitled, 'Legendary Grimm of Remnant' and flipped the page to reveal a picture of a terrifying creature that had seven heads, ten horns, the mouth of a lion, the body of a leopard, and the feet of a bear. "This vile creature has prowled our land for centuries, laying waste to everything in its path," Brenton said. "It hasn't been seen for ages, but its reappearance is said to predict the end of the world."

"Sounds like a fearsome creature," Lily said. "How can we stop it?"

"You can't," Brenton replied. "There are only a few heroes who are capable of defeating the Beast. Long ago, a prophecy was written. This prophecy foretold the coming of four great huntsmen from the east who would engage the Beast in an epic battle and destroy it once and for all. These hunters would put an end to the Beast's reign of terror, stop the apocalypse, and bring an age of prosperity to Vacuo."

"And how do you know that we are not the prophesied ones?" asked Colby.

"You think you're the heroes?!" Brenton asked before he started laughing hysterically. The members of Team COAL just listened to him laugh, not amused in the slightest. After Brenton finished laughing, he collected himself and continued speaking. "You're just four students of a huntsman school that no longer exists. You do seem to be highly skilled. After all, most Beacon students would have died out in the desert before they even got here. But the prophesied heroes are almost certainly professional hunters, and some of the best in the world at that. In fact, I would advise you to just turn around and go home. Most of the desert is still in front of you, and there's enough water here for you to make it back to Vale's border. Please, do it for your own good."

"I'm afraid we can't do that, sir." Colby replied defiantly. "We're going to Shade for something much more important than just ourselves. We're going to convince Theodore to help us rescue our friends from the White Fang who hide out in this kingdom. We survived the Fall of Beacon, and we've made it this far. If we have to fight a gigantic seven-headed lion-leopard-bear Grimm, then so be it!"

"Well if you're that determined, I can't stop you. But I could really use your help. I need to go over to the next town and warn everyone that the Beast has reappeared. The stretch of desert between us and that town is crawling with Grimm. If you could help me get over there, I would really appreciate it."

"We'll help you," Colby said. "If the Beast has truly returned, then we need to warn as many people as possible."

"Alright, then. We will set out immediately. But I must warn you, we may not make it there by nightfall."

"Doesn't matter to us. Whether it be day, night, rain, sleet, or snow, we will always be there to save the day!"

The team left the cellar and followed Brenton toward the next town, anxious to warn them about the coming Beast and the doom it would bring. But they knew that they would have to get past it if they were to reach Shade.


	9. Hail Team COAL!

After grabbing as much supplies and ammunition they could carry and allowing Brenton to grab his rifle and pistol, Team COAL and their new huntsman friend set out in the late afternoon and attempted to reach the nearby town by nightfall. "The town is a little ways west of here," Brenton said. "But to get there, we'll have to go through the beowolves' hunting grounds. This area is along a trade route between the desert towns of Vacuo, and that makes it an excellent place for Grimm to go hunting."

"We've dealt with Grimm before," said Colby. "Even the bigger, more dangerous ones found in Vacuo. We've got this."

"Well, we need to get to the other village before nightfall," said Lily. "Our chances of survival decrease by 10% every hour we're in the dark in this part of the desert."

"Then there's no time to waste," said Brenton. "Let's move!"

Everyone set out into the desert with their weapons drawn and prepared to cut down any Grimm that came their way. But the Grimm they feared most of all was the seven-headed Beast. If such a creature could destroy an entire town, then five huntsmen were no match for it. The members of Team COAL asked themselves if the Beast was actually real. A large enough Grimm could do the same kind of damage that the Beast supposedly could have. Could Brenton have just been crazy?

Then, they remembered the size of the colossal footprint that they saw in the destroyed village. No Ursa could leave a footprint that size, not even one of the enormous Ursai that lived in Vacuo. Lily ran the numbers through her head and found that the probability of an Ursa growing to such a size was roughly 8,296,371 to one. The footprint had to have been created by something else, something much larger. This meant that the only creature capable of producing a footprint of such a size was either the fabled Beast that Brenton had described, or some equally terrifying unknown creature. Whatever this Grimm was, they knew that they would have to get past it somehow.

The sun was going down, and the huntsmen tried to cover as much ground as they could while they travelled toward the nearest town, which was located several miles to the northwest. They all took Lily's advice seriously and were quite afraid of what they would face in the deserts of Vacuo after dark.

They kept moving for the next couple of hours. As the sun set and the land became darker and colder, the hunters' fears grew. But they knew that they couldn't give up and tried as hard as they could to assure themselves that everything would be alright. They would get past the Beast and make it all the way to Shade Academy. They would convince Headmaster Theodore to help them rescue their friends. They would erase the White Fang from Vacuo, save their classmates from Beacon, and rebuild the school to once again serve as a symbol of hope and protection for the people of Vale. And most importantly, they would know that Pyrrha, Ozpin, and everyone else who died in the attack did not die in vain.

In addition to all this, Colby felt a desire to destroy this Beast and obtain justice for everyone it had killed during its years of ravaging Vacuo. As a survivor of the Fall of Beacon, he knew all too well what it was like to lose one's home and loved ones to the creatures of darkness. He would strike a mighty blow to the forces of evil in Remnant, and become the prophesied hero who would bring a new age of prosperity to the land.

The group of huntsmen kept walking through the desert with an eye out for Grimm. The temperature had plummeted since the sun went down, and the cold wind chilled them to the bone. Remnant's shattered moon had risen in the sky above them, providing their only source of light in the dark, desolate land of Vacuo. Just as the moon was their only source of physical light, their hopes of rescuing their friends was their only hope in the bleakness of despair.

Lily had calculated an 82.7% chance of encountering Grimm that night, so she led the group with her bow loaded and her fox ears perked up and listening for Grimm. As a faunus, she had excellent eyesight in darkness. After a while, she spotted the first Grimm.

"There's a group of Beowolves over there," she whispered to everyone. "But they haven't seen us yet. If we strike now before they can draw in others, we may not have to deal with so many Grimm. Got it?"

Everyone nodded without saying a word.

Lily pulled back the string of her bow and let go, shooting the arrow toward one of the Beowolves at a rapid speed. The arrow hit the Grimm in the neck, killing it instantly. Its body disintegrated.

The group charged forward and engaged the other Grimm in combat. Lily jumped up, kicked a Beowulf in the face, pulled out her knife, and slit the creature's throat while it was stunned. Another one charged at her, and she fired an arrow at it and hit it in the chest, killing it. Then a third came up from behind.

"LILY!" Autumn shouted as she blasted the creature with sonic waves from her guitar, blowing it several feet back. She ran up to the Grimm while it was down in the sand and then brought her guitar down on the Grimm's head, killing it. Another Beowulf charged at her from behind, but Brenton shot it with his rifle. The sound of it attracted more Grimm, but he attempted to hold them off by whacking them with the butt of his rifle. He tried his best, but there were too many of them.

"Hang on, Brenton!" Colby shouted as he jumped into action. He landed near the Beowulves and pulled out his tomahawks, swinging at the creatures. He sliced open one Beowulf's stomach, split the skull of another, and decapitated another.

Meanwhile, Ouranos was swinging his axe and holding his own against several Grimm. A Beowollf bore its fangs and attempted to rip him apart, but he blocked its attack with his axe, kicked the creature in the stomach, and brought his weapon down on the stunned Grimm, killing it. He turned around and cut another's stomach open before decapitating a third.

"That looks like the last of them!" he shouted."Now let's move on!"

But it was already too late. The sound of the fighting had drawn in more Grimm, and an enormous King Taijutsu appeared. A King Taijutsu was an enormous snake-like Grimm. The ones in Vale were dangerous enough, but this one was far larger than the ones found in Vale. It would be the biggest threat the team faced since they fought that tentacled worm Grimm in the depths of the mineshaft.

"Spread out!" Colby ordered. "We'll need to work as a team to beat this one."

Everyone followed Colby's orders and spread out. Lily attempted to fire arrows at the Grimm, but those arrows simply bounced off of the creature's body. Brenton attempted the same with his rifle, but to no avail.

"Stop wasting ammo!" Colby shouted to them. "You're not doing any damage."

"I'll take it down!" Ouranos shouted as he readied a shot with his rocket launcher. He fired off the rocket, but the Grimm simply slithered out of the way.

"We'll have to be fast and maneuverable to take this Grimm down," Colby said before a huge grin appeared on his face. "This looks like a job for me!"

He jumped into action, using his semblance to propel himself several feet into the air and land on the snake's back. The creature slithered around violently in an effort to shake the huntsman off. Colby held on, but then the snake twisted its head around and attempted to swallow him. He jumped out of the way, but the snake moved its body around again and Colby landed on the ground. Seeing an opportunity to finish off its opponent, the King Taijutsu began to wrap its tail around Colby, strangling him.

"We've got to help Colby!" shouted Ouranos.

"I've got this, said Autumn. She ran up toward the snake and started playing her guitar, whose sonic waves caused the creature to recoil in shock. While the Grimm was stunned, Lily ran up infused her knife with fire dust, and plunged it into the King Taijutsu's tail, causing it to roar in pain. It released Colby, who fell to the ground gasping for breath.

"Thanks, guys," he said.

"Back on your feet, Colby," Lily said to him as she grabbed his hand.

Getting back up, Colby followed Lily away from the snake. The creature, however, slithered toward the two of them with its mouth open. They ran as fast as they could, but the Grimm was gaining on them. They were certain that they were about to be devoured.

"Jump, guys!" Autumn shouted out. Colby grabbed Lily and activated his semblance, jumping high into the air. Autumn unleashed another sonic blast from her guitar, stunning the King Taijutsu again.

Colby and Lily landed on the ground, then ran off to the creature's right while it was stunned.

"The thing's dazed! Fire another rocket, Ouranos!"

Ouranos launched another rocket at the King Taijutsu while it was recovering, hitting the animal in the face and dealing massive damage. Its body disintegrated.

"We won!" Autumn cheered. "We're the best!"

"Yeah, we did it!" Ouranos said.

"So, have you learned to rely on us yet?" Lily asked smugly. "You can't fight all your battles by yourself."

"Yeah...about that...I just happened to be dehydrated. I wouldn't have lost my balance under normal circumstances," Colby said sheepishly.

"Well, if you are all done arguing, we need to get to the next town before more Grimm show up!" Brenton said anxiously as he put his rifle on his back.

"I agree," said Lily. "The probability of more Grimm showing up here within the next five minutes is 65.9 percent. We need to get out of here now."

"I second that," replied Autumn. "My Grimm detector is going crazy. We need to leave."

The team and their huntsman companion rushed out of there as quickly as they could. They knew that their only hope lay ahead. They had to reach the next town and warn them of the terrible danger that had been unleashed on the kingdom of Vacuo. After seeing the destruction that had taken place in Brenton's hometown, Team COAL had no doubt that the creature could make short work of whatever town it came across. The thing might even be able to threaten Shade Academy itself if given the chance.

The team continued running until Autumn's Grimm sense started to fade. They kept walking through the cold, dark night, until at last they saw lights up ahead. These were the lights of houses in the town that Brenton had mentioned. Walking closer, they saw that everyone had tucked in for the night. Team COAL was relieved to have reached safety. But they knew that if the Beast wasn't stopped, the town would be destroyed just like the last one.

"The town isn't in any immediate danger," Brenton said. "We'll rest for the night and warn everyone first thing in the morning."

He led the team to the town's inn, where they rented a room to spend the night. The next morning, they looked out the window to see that the townsfolk were walking around, going about their business. Now was the time to warn them.

Brenton and the members of Team COAL walked into the center of town where the people were going about their day. The huntsman pulled out a pistol from his belt and fired it into the air. The shot rang out, startling everyone. The townsfolk turned their focus to Brenton. Some of them were concerned, others were irritated at his suddenly firing a bullet into the air.

"The Beast has returned!" he shouted fearfully. "It's destroyed the town to the east of here and it's going on a rampage throughout Vacuo! We must destroy this creature for the sake of the whole kingdom!"

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" one of the town's villagers said.

"Don't you remember seeing all the smoke rising from the east yesterday?" Brenton replied. "Only the Beast is capable of causing such destruction to an entire town."

"That could have just as easily been a simple house fire," a woman replied. "We can't just jump to conclusions."

"No, he's right," said a man walking up to the town square. He was dressed in fine clothes, indicating that he was of a high social status. "I've known Brenton Boyd for many years. He has saved this town from trouble on many occasions. If he says the Beast has returned, then the Beast has indeed returned. He looked over at the members of Team COAL. "I'm the mayor of this town, by the way. And you are?"  
"We're Team COAL," Colby replied. "Good to meet you."

"Yes, we can trust Brenton's word." He then turned to Brenton. "But how do you propose we deal with such a creature? The Beast is one of the mightiest Grimm that Remnant has ever known."

"Look no further than Team COAL," Brenton said proudly. "This team of huntsmen from Beacon got me here across a very dangerous Grimm-infested stretch of the desert. I saw them take down an enormous King Taijutsu, and they had to travel all the way across Vale just to get to where I was. They know what they're doing."

The mayor looked them over and then shook his head. "Well, it appears I can't trust everything you say. Yes, they've done well to get this far. Most students would have died before they reached this point. But they are young and inexperienced, and the Beast is the most dangerous Grimm in the world. Most adult huntsmen wouldn't stand a chance against it, let alone a group of kids."

"We are so much more than your average group of kids!" Colby shouted loudly, both out of anger at the mayor's lack of faith in him and his team and so that everyone could hear him. "We have not only survived the Fall of Beacon, but we pushed all the way here even when everyone else gave up. We could have stayed in Vale and gone on with our lives, but we chose to come out here and all the way to Shade Academy to get their help in saving our friends in their time of need. No matter what obstacles come our way, we will never give up!"

"I admire your courage and determination," the mayor replied. "But that says nothing about your ability to defeat the Beast."

"We fought off dozens of Grimm, White Fang, and Atlesian robots during the Fall," replied Colby. "After that we fought our way through the abandoned dust mines under the Gates of Vale and fought an enormous tentacled worm-like Grimm. And as Brenton here has attested, we beat an enormous King Taijutsu. Where most students would have given up or died, we have pushed through and conquered every challenge that came our way. If anyone can beat the beast, it's us."

Many in the crowd looked as though they were starting to sympathize with Team COAL, but others still weren't convinced. "Aren't you Colby Castanho, the guy who lost to Sun Wukong in the Vytal Tournament?" asked a man in the crowd. "Are you sure you're qualified to face such a monster?"

"Fighting other huntsmen is nothing like fighting Grimm," replied Lily. "As much as Colby here might disagree, the Vytal Tournament is not a reliable measure of a huntsman's ability to kill Grimm. Country and western are two completely different types of music, and anti-Grimm and ant-huntsman combat are two completely different types of combat."

By that time, everyone had agreed to support Team COAL in their efforts to slay the Beast and get to Shade Academy. Whether it was the team's list of accomplishments, their fighting spirit, or Lily's pathos-based analogy of saying that country and western are two completely different types of music is impossible to say, but they all cried out in one voice:

"Hail Team COAL! The saviors of Vacuo!"

The sound of their cheers was the sweetest sound Colby had heard in weeks. The people of this town were lending him their support and it now seemed more likely than ever that Team COAL would slay the Beast, reach Shade Academy and accomplish everything it had set out to do.

Despite his apprehensions, the mayor realized that he could not defy popular opinion. "Very well," he said. "We will do everything we can to support you. We will provide food, water, ammunition, and anything else you may need on your quest."

And they did. For the entire morning, the people of the town gave the members of Team COAL as much of those items as they could carry. Before they set out, the team spoke to Brenton.

"Will you be coming with us, Brenton?" asked Lily. "I calculate a higher chance of success if you come with us."

Brenton shook his head. "Sorry, but someone has to stay here and protect this village. But let me give you this." He handed Lily a small electronic device.

"What is this?" asked Lily.

"It's a holographic projector of sorts," said Brenton. "Villages out here use them to keep bandits away by creating images of Grimm to fool them. There are a lot of bandits out here, and I think you could use the device."

"But doesn't this village need it?"

"We have more. The one I gave you was used by the old village, which will obviously no longer be needing it. I hope you can put it to good use. It's what the people would have wanted."

"Thanks, Brenton," said Colby. "Do you know where the Beast is?"

"Last time I saw the thing, it was headed north. It's probably somewhere northeast of here."

"Great! My team and I will hunt it down," Colby said. "Take care of yourself, Brenton."

"You too, Colby."

Colby walked off to the northeast, and the rest of Team COAL ran after him. They objected to this course of action, as their priority was to save their friends, and they tried to talk sense into their leader.

"Colby, Shade Academy is to the northwest!" Lily cried out in a fit of rage. "Our priority is to save our friends, not to kill the Beast!"  
"Lily, we need to save as many people as we can," Colby replied. "Our friends in that White Fang base aren't in any immediate danger. Surely they can wait for us to slay this wicked Grimm."

"All that praise from the townsfolk has really gone to your head, hasn't it?!" Autumn asked angrily. "You'd rather go down as the savior of Vacuo than save your friends. That sickens me."

"Autumn, my honor as a huntsman demands that I slay this vile creature," Colby said. "I saw so many innocent lives get cut short during the Fall of Beacon, and I can't ever let anything like that happen again. We're killing the Beast, and that is not open to discussion."

The three other members of Team COAL felt as though they had no choice but to follow Colby. As crazy as their leader's plan was, they could not abandon him to his madness. They hoped that he would see reason before it was too late.

After a couple of long and hot days, Colby's teammates had had enough. The team knew that they were on a wild goose chase and headed in the wrong direction, and they would run out of water if they continued for much longer. They could already feel their throats burning with thirst, and they knew that even if they found the Beast, they would run out of water before they reached Shade. That's when Lily finally decided to stand up to her leader.

"Colby, we are stopping right now!" she yelled at him angrily from behind.

Colby turned around to face the arctic fox faunus. His face was twisted in rage. "What did you just say to me?"

"We won't go a step further on this wild goose chase!" she yelled indignantly. "And you are going to listen to what we have to say!"


	10. The Beast

"And what would that be?" Colby asked. His voice was dripping with venom.

"You've lost sight of our mission," Lily replied indignantly. "We're supposed to be trying to save our friends, not hunting down some seven-headed Beast Grimm! We're going to die if we keep this up!"

"Then we will die honorably," Colby replied coldly. "It goes against everything we stand for as huntsmen and huntresses to abandon the people of Vacuo to be trampled by this Beast!"

"But what about our friends?" asked Autumn. "Who's going to save them if we die?"

"They aren't in any immediate danger!" said Colby. "We'll save them after we kill the monster."

"You idiot! We won't even get to the monster!" Ouranos shouted out. "We're running low on supplies and we're headed in the wrong direction. We'll die out here before we find this Beast and even if we do find it and kill it by some miracle, we'll never get to Shade Academy."

"It's true," said Lily. "Our chances of death go up by 5% every day we continue in this direction. We must turn back toward Shade Academy before it's too late."

"You just don't get it, do you?" Colby asked angrily. "If we were to turn around now, we would be abandoning our duty and our honor as huntsmen and huntresses and condemning countless people to die at the claws and fangs of a vicious Grimm."

"We'll be much better equipped to deal with this creature once we've saved our friends," said Ouranos. "We'll have dozens of our classmates from Beacon on our side, and who knows how many Shade students. That seven-headed abomination won't stand a chance."

"But how much destruction will the Beast be able to cause before then?" asked Colby. "Our honor demands that we protect everyone's lives."

"Colby, you can't save everyone," Lily replied.

"That may be so, but our honor demands that we try," said Colby.

"I know what's really going on here," said Autumn. "You're feeling like a failure after what happened at Beacon. You can't stand the thought that so many people died or got kidnapped, and you want to make up for it. You want to be the big hero who saved everyone, and you're willing to put your life and those of your teammates in danger to make it happen."

"How dare you say that?!" Colby snapped at Autumn. "My only concern is honoring those who died by protecting those who remain. It's what Pyrrha, Ozpin, and my father would have wanted."

"What about your teammates and your friends who have been taken by the White Fang?" Ouranos asked indignantly. "Wouldn't your father want you to look after them?"

"No, he'd want me to kill that wretched Beast!" Colby shouted back. "He was the greatest huntsman who ever lived, and he chose to give his life to protect those who needed him rather than cower in fear and let humanity get overrun by monsters! He would want me...no all of us-to do the same!"

"Colby, you need to let go of your father," Lily said.

"What?!"

"You never got over his death," the arctic fox faunus replied. "You're trying to honor his legacy to protect everyone because you just can't stand the thought of anyone else getting hurt."

Colby's facial expression slowly changed from one of rage to sadness. He knew that what Lily said was true, but he couldn't accept it or admit it.

"Quiet, you," he said, his voice shaking.

"And while looking out to protect everyone is an admirable goal, you need to realize that no one can keep everyone safe one hundred percent of the time," Lily continued.

"Stop it…" Colby protested.

"Colby, you've got to move on from your father's death," Lily finally said. "It's the only way you're ever going to be a great huntsman. You need to realize that not even he could keep everyone safe, and you have to build your own legacy."

"My father could have saved everyone at Beacon," Colby said sadly. "If he had been there, Pyrrha and Ozpin would still be alive, Yang would still have her arm, and none of our friends would have been kidnapped."

"One person could not have prevented all of that from happening," Lily replied calmly. "And you need to stop comparing yourself to him and blaming yourself for what happened. You and Corbin Castanho are both human. No single person can save the world, Colby."

"But he could have at least prevented the Fall from being such a disaster," Colby said with tears forming in his eyes. "Hundreds of students died that night and many others were kidnapped on our watch. He may have been able to keep Team BRWN and those others safe while they fled from Beacon. And maybe he could have done it without shedding so much blood." He looked down at his hands. "I took so many lives that night, and for what? Our friends were taken, and I'll never be able to wash my hands clean of the blood of all those White Fang I killed. They may have been enemies, but the fact remains that I've taken lives. I'd hoped that I would never have to take humanoid lives."

"We don't have the luxury of thinking about what would have happened if Corbin had been at Beacon on that night," said Lily. All we know is that our friends are in danger, and their survival depends on us getting to Shade Academy. And you can't blame yourself for killing those faunus," she said a little more sympathetically. "I didn't want to have to kill them either, but they would have taken our lives and who knows how many others if we hadn't stopped them? I wish we didn't have to, but this is a dangerous world we live in. But more importantly, you need to remember that what Corbin would have wanted is for you to save all those students. He wouldn't want you to risk throwing everything away just to destroy some seven-headed Grimm, and he certainly wouldn't want you to do that to your teammates. As a team leader, your obligation is to your teammates, first and foremost."

Colby thought for a while about what Lily had said before realizing that she was indeed right. He had allowed his pride to put everything at risk. He had ignored his obligation as the leader of his team, and put the entire quest at risk just to heal the pride that had been wounded during the Fall of Beacon. And now, because of him, not only was his team in the middle of a vast desert where they would surely perish if they didn't turn back immediately, but everyone he had left to save was in danger too. Without him and his team, who would save those left behind?"

"You're right, Lily," Colby said sadly. "I've been selfish, and now I've put everything in jeopardy." By this point, the tears were freely flowing down his face. "I'd forgotten what we were fighting for, and I thank you for helping me remember before it was too late. I hope you'll all forgive me."

"Of course we forgive you, Colby," the arctic fox faunus said as she leaned in and hugged her leader. "And we understand how you feel, Colby. The Fall of Beacon was a horrific event and a huge loss for all of us. You're not alone, Colby. Your teammates are here for you, and if you need to talk about how you feel, all you need to do is talk to us. Your friends are here for you. Never forget that."

"Thanks, Lily," Colby said. He turned to Autumn and Ouranos. "You guys too. You're the best teammates anyone could ask for. Now, let's turn around and get to Shade Academy."

The team turned back toward Shade, but sooner or later, they felt the ground beneath them shake. Just then, Autumn's Grimm sense started tingling harder than it ever had before.

"Guys, there's a huge Grimm coming our way!" she said fearfully.

Over the horizon, a large and terrifying Grimm appeared. As it drew near, it became clear that this creature was none other than the dreaded seven headed Beast that Colby had been hunting. It had seven heads, ten horns, the body of a leopard, the mouth of a lion, and the feet of a bear. It had to have been as big as a house, and the earth shook as the creature stepped. It let out the loudest, most terrifying roar the members of Team COAL had ever heard.

"It's the Beast!" Ouranos shouted fearfully. "How did it find us?"

"It must have been drawn here by the negativity of our argument!" Lily replied. "This is it, guys! We have to take it out!" She pulled back the drawstring of her bow and fired several arrows at the creature's head, but the arrows merely bounced off. The Grimm roared again, indicating that Lily had only succeeded in agitating the Beast. Ouranos tried firing a rocket at the creature, but it merely smacked the rocket out of the air and caused it to hit the ground a few hundred feet away and explode harmlessly.

"No good!" Lily shouted. "We'll have to hit it up close!"

"Spread out!" Colby ordered. The team did as he said, and the Beast roared again. Fire erupted from its seven mouths, scorching the sand around it and turning it black. The fire caught the members of Team COAL by surprise and nearly hit them, but they managed to jump out of the way just in time.

"We need to distract its heads!" Colby shouted out. That way, we'll be able to get close and hit this thing where it hurts!"

"I'm on it, boss!" Autumn shouted as she pulled out her guitar and let out a huge sonic blast, which pushed the Beast back a few feet but didn't appear to do any real damage. It roared again, and unleashed another blast of its fire breath.

Autumn jumped over to the right, missing the fire by only a couple feet. Then, she loaded her guitar with ice dust and counterrattacked with a sonic blast loaded with ice energy. "I think you need to chill out!" she shouted as the sound waves flew up toward the seven-headed Grimm.

The Beast roared in fury as the ice waves hit its seven heads, which seemed to move a little slower than before after being stunned with ice and sonic waves.

"The Beast is stunned!" Colby shouted over to Ouranos. "See if you can cut off one of those heads!"

The Beast's heads were high up in the air, but Ouranos climbed up one of the creature's legs while it was distracted by Autumn's frost attack. Once he was up the Grimm's neck, he activated his strength semblance and swung his axe at one of the Beast's heads in full force. The axe went through the creature's hide and severed the animal's head, and the creature roared in agony as its head fell to the ground and Ouranos went down with it.

"We've really hurt it now!" Colby said proudly.

"Just then, before Team COAL's very eyes, the animal's head grew back. The team of huntsmen and huntresses couldn't believe what they saw, and they knew that this would make their job a lot harder.

"Impossible," Lily said as she saw the creature's head grow back. "Looks like we can't kill that creature by cutting off its heads. We'll need to go for the body!"

"We'll have to knock it over somehow," Colby said."But how can we do it?!"

"We'll have to attack its legs," said Lily. "You and Ouranos have the highest chance of knocking this thing off-balance. Autumn and I will support you while you jump up on its back."

"Alright, Colby said. Just take care of yourselves and look out for that thing's fire breath!" Colby shouted as he ran toward the thing, but several of its heads breathed fire at them and forced them to jump out of the way.

"Hey monster, why don't you pick on someone your own size?!" Autumn shouted out as she let out another sonic blast that seemed to stun the thing's heads for a few seconds. Lily also opened fire with a volley of arrows, forcing the heads to worry about not getting hit by them rather than attacking Colby and Ouranos, who rushed forward at the creature's legs in an attempt to knock it off-balance.

Ouranos readied his rocket launcher to fire at the Beast's belly and knock it off-balance, but the Grimm kicked at the two huntsmen with its legs. They each rolled out of the way, missing the creature's feet by a few meters. Ouranos fired a rocket at the creature's belly, causing it to roar in pain and stumble. Though the explosion failed to penetrate the Grimm's thick hide, it caused the creature to lose its balance. Seeing the opportunity they had created, Colby and Ouranos swung their weapons at the Grimm's front and back right legs in an attempt to push it over. To ensure that their attacks did as much damage as possible, Colby infused his tomahawks with earth dust and Ouranos put his strength semblance into his attack. Their strikes caused the Grimm to stumble even further and fall over with a huge thud. Its belly was exposed.

The members of Team COAL approached the wounded Grimm, ready to finish it off. "This is for all the innocent lives you've taken, and the loved ones they've left behind," Colby said coldly as he sunk his blade into the wounded part of the Beast's stomach, killing it. The creature's body disintegrated into the dark mist that Grimm turned into when they died. "May your death serve as an example to all those who would disrupt humanity's peace," he said gravely.

"We did it!" Autumn cheered.

"Yes, we did," Colby said, turning toward his teammates. "Listen, everyone, I'm sorry for putting us all in danger by coming out this way and hunting for that monster. I put everything and everyone at risk."

"We understand that you were acting out of a desire not to lose anyone else close to you, Colby," said Lily. "And we want you to remember that we're here for you no matter what. Now let's turn around and get out of here." With that, Team COAL turned back in the right direction, toward Shade Academy.


	11. The Desert Express

Having vanquished the Beast, Team COAL continued on its way to Shade. Though they had defeated the creature that had plagued Vacuo for so long, they knew that they would still have to trek across miles of barren desert and were running out of supplies. In addition, Colby was filled with regret not just for failing to protect everyone during the Fall, but for putting his friends' lives in danger just to make up for it. But his teammates had helped him recognize his selfishness before it was too late, and now he had a chance to save his friends and set everything right.

Unfortunately, the horrors of war still followed him everywhere he went and haunted his nightmares. He relived the Fall on many nights while he and his teammates were trekking across the deserts of Vacuo, and he would often wake up screaming in terror.

"You need help, Colby," said Lily. "Please, promise me you'll talk to someone about this when you get to Shade. The huntsman academies have staff who are trained to help with PTSD."

"Okay," Colby said. "After everything he'd been through, he was humble enough to admit that he needed help.

The team had grown weary of the hot sun beating down on them, the shortage of food, water, and other necessities, and the constant threat of Grimm. After they endured this for another week after defeating the Beast, Lily finally had good news for them.

"According to my calculations, we're approaching the town of Sandstone," she said to them. "It's a dust mining town with a railway leading into Vacuo City itself. The railroad is vital in transporting both dust and people to the town and back. There's one train in particular that brings more people in and out of town than any other. It's called the Desert Express, and it carries hundreds of people between Sandstone and Vacuo City every day."

"That's perfect," said Colby, who then turned toward his teammates. "We're almost there, team! Once we get to Vacuo, we can talk to Professor Theodore about getting his support in saving our friends."

The team continued walking for a few more days, still weary from trekking across the desert but in better spirits because they knew that they were about to arrive at the railway into Vacuo City. Finally, they arrived in the dust mining town of Sandstone. It was the largest town they had encountered since their journey began, and it was full of businesses and dust workers going about their day. They arrived late in the day, and stopped to eat and rest for the night. While they slept, their minds drifted toward Shade Academy and the huntsmen and huntresses they would meet there. They imagined themselves fighting alongside Shade's students and teachers, storming the White Fang's Vacuo base, and rescuing their friends. Then, they'd return to Beacon and rebuild it from the ground up. It would become a monument to the courage and perseverance of huntsmen and huntresses everywhere, and a symbol of their victory over the forces of evil.

In the morning, they got up and headed to the train station after eating breakfast. Their time at the station was uneventful as they waited in line, bought their tickets, and sat down waiting for the train to arrive. However, Colby had this to say to his teammates.

"Guys, I just want to let you know how much I appreciate you helping me see how selfish I was back there," he said. "Thanks to you, we're finally about to reach Shade Academy. We'll save our friends and rebuild Beacon to be greater than it ever was before!"

"Hey, you're our leader," said Autumn. "We wouldn't have made it this far without your guidance."

"Thanks," Colby replied. "I only wish I could have been a good leader when it mattered the most. We lost a lot of good friends when Beacon fell," he said sadly. "Like Pyrrha, Ozpin, and Penny. And if that weren't enough, Yang lost her arm, Ruby went unconscious, Weiss was taken back to Atlas, and we don't know where Blake and the rest of JNPR are. I wonder if things could have been different if I had been a better leader and huntsman. If our friends could have been saved and Beacon could have stood."

"You can't keep dwelling on the past, Colby," Ouranos said. "Look at the future we have in front of us. We're going to set everything right and bring back the shining Beacon of mankind's hope."

"And I realize how traumatic the Fall must have been for you," said Lily. "It's normal to feel guilty after traumatic events and wonder how you could have done things differently. But I calculate a high probability that Shade's counselors will be able to help you feel better."

Just then, the members of Team COAL heard a very loud whistle as the Desert Express pulled into the station. The people on board disembarked, and after a little while the train was ready to depart to Vacuo city again. Team COAL boarded the train and sat down toward the front of the train. There, they encountered a man who was oddly familiar to Colby. The man appeared to be in his early forties, but his eyes were obscured by sunglasses and he was wearing a hat to cover up his hair. The man was also wearing a green jacket with a white shirt under it and brown pants.

"Wait, I know you," the man said as he looked up at them. "You've had quite an impressive career for a first-year huntsman student, Colby Castanho. You've done well at living up to the legacy of the huntsmen before you."

"Huh?" Colby asked. "Who are you and how do you know my name?"

"Let me introduce myself," the man said as he took off his hat and sunglasses, revealing dark hair and blue eyes. "My name is Deegan Garrick. Many years ago, I was a teammate of the legendary Corbin Castanho."

Colby couldn't believe what he was hearing. After all these years, he had found a living member of his father's team! He had heard his father talk about Deegan years ago, but it was only now that he had seen the man in person. He'd hoped that he could learn more about how his father had really died. It would help him gain some closure over what had happened.

"So you survived my father's fateful mission to the remote corners of Vale?" he asked, still somewhat shocked. "I thought his teammates had all died with him. If you could tell me exactly what happened and how he died, I'll finally be able to move on."

"Of course I'll tell you," Deegan replied. "I know how hard it can be to lose a loved one, and you deserve to know the truth after all these years. But let me start from the beginning, for it really is an incredible story of bravery and sacrifice. He faced his death fearlessly and with great honor."

"What happened to him?" Colby asked.

"It all started years ago, when Professor Ozpin asked us to clear out a Grimm-infested area in a distant corner of Vale. The headmaster was concerned that the Grimm in that area would threaten the nearby towns if they were allowed to stay alive, so he sent us to clear them out. So one fateful day, we boarded an airship headed toward that area and that's when it all began."

Deegan continued telling the story of what the team had done during its fateful mission, down to the smallest details of what the area looked like, what kind of Grimm they encountered, how the Grimm were killed, and what Corbin had said to his teammates. During the time, the train left the station and began the final leg of the journey across the barren deserts of Vacuo and toward the kingdom's capital. Colby was beginning to get impatient with the length of the story, but he knew that the end was coming and reasoned that Deegan deserved to be heard. After all, the loss of his teammates must have been pretty traumatic and telling the story may have been just as cathartic for him as hearing it was for Colby. Autumn, meanwhile, couldn't stand the boredom any longer and excused herself to look around the train.

Little did the team know that while they listened to Deegan's story, a few White Fang agents disguised as engineers were at the train's engine and were ready to carry out their orders at any moment. When the signal came through their scrolls, they stabbed the conductor in the back and took full control of the train, pushing the engine to maximum power. They also threw the conductor's body out of the train to dispose of the evidence that they had killed him.

"And now we get to the part where he died," Deegan said sadly while continuing the story. "Before I tell you this part, I want to let you know that Corbin Castanho was an exceptional man in many ways and you share many of his characteristics.

"I do?" Colby asked, sounding flattered. "Like what?"

"For starters, there's his courage," Deegan said. "You and your teammates managed to defeat the Beast when no other huntsmen or huntresses could. You vanquished an evil that has plagued this kingdom for generations."

This didn't add up to Lily, whose fox ears twitched the moment she heard the snake faunus mention the Beast. She had no idea how Deegan or anyone would know that her team had defeated the Beast, as the creature's body had disintegrated like all Grimm do when they die. The only way anyone could know that the team had beaten the Beast was if they had seen it happen, but Lily didn't remember seeing anyone else around when the creature had been killed. She calculated a 93.59% probability that Deegan had been spying on them.

"You also have his resourcefulness," Deegan went on. "Not many huntsmen or huntresses could have survived out in the desert for as long as you have, especially not huntsmen and huntresses in training. I can tell that you have enormous potential as a huntsman." At this time, a group of White Fang agents disguised as engineers were walking toward the team. Colby thought nothing of it because they were disguised.

"And finally…" he said as the White Fang agents reached the place where they were sitting. "You have his gullibility," he said with a sinister grin while he pulled out a dagger and pointed it toward Colby. The White Fang agents pulled out guns and pointed them at the members of Team COAL.

"Deegan, what's the meaning of this?" Colby asked angrily. "Why would you kill the son of your old teammate?"

"You simple fool," Deegan said as he grinned, revealing two snake fangs in his mouth. "It was not Grimm or starvation that killed your father and his other two teammates, it was me. I lured them into the wilderness and killed them with my own hands.

"Why would you do such a thing?" Colby asked.

"Why?" Deegan said mockingly as he let out a chuckle. "Why does anyone do anything in this world? Is it for justice or loyalty or friendship? No. I did him in for one reason and one reason only. The White Fang offered me a ton of lien in exchange for killing them, and like any smart person in this world I was more than happy to do the deed. Only the strongest and most cunning can survive in this world."

"You fiend," Colby said with his voice full of contempt. "He was your teammate. Your brother. He was MY father. You won't get away with killing him."

Deegan laughed again. "Do you really think you can stop me? The White Fang has this train completely under its control. It's traveling at maximum speed toward the mountains overlooking Vacuo City, and there's no way it will be able to make the turns it needs to at this speed. The train will crash, everyone on it will die, and Vacuo's supply line to Sandstone will be cut off. And as for you, you will die here at my hand just like your father before you."

Deegan raised his hand to plunge the dagger into Colby's chest. Just then, Autumn came back and saw what the snake faunus and the White Fang agents were about to do. Wasting no time, she ran up to Deegan and grabbed the arm that he was holding the knife in. Seeing the opportunity, Colby got out of his seat and kicked the snake faunus in the chest, knocking him over. Deegan's goons opened fire, hitting the four young huntsmen and huntresses because they were shooting at point blank range. The students' auras protected them from injury, but the bullets hurt just as much as they would without auras. They were knocked to the ground and quickly scurried behind the nearby seats for cover before getting up and trying to fight back. All around them, the passengers scattered and ran for safety. Two of the train's security guards rushed into the car to stop the commotion, but Deegan pulled out a pistol and shot them to death quickly. Team COAL would have to deal with these enemies on their own.

Looking around them, the huntsmen and huntresses saw that there were four White Fang goons, not including Deegan. Lily got up and fired her bow at the nearest grunt, hitting him in the chest and killing him. Colby threw his two tomahawks at the remaining ones. Each of the axes hit one of the goons in the head, causing their skulls to cave in. They fell to the ground and died. Ouranos ran forward, deflected the last one's shots with his battleaxe, and finished him off with a blow across his chest.

"It's over, Deegan!" Colby said as he and his teammates approached the snake faunus. "There's four of us and only one of you, and you have nowhere to run to."

"That's what you think," the snake faunus replied. A few seconds later, White Fang grunts jumped onto the train's caboose from jeeps that were driving behind it. They entered the train's caboose and started shooting at the people inside. A few seconds later, Team COAL heard a voice over the train's speaker system.

"Attention all security forces! White Fang terrorists have jumped onto the caboose and are opening fire! It's only a matter of time until they overrun us! We need immediate assistance!" As they heard this, they also heard the sounds of gunfire and screaming.

"Are you going to just let them die?" Deegan asked with a wicked grin on his face.

"You guys go save the passengers!" Colby said to his teammates. "I'll deal with this traitor myself." Colby's teammates ran to the other cars in an effort to stop the White Fang from killing everyone on the train. Meanwhile, he swung his right axe toward Deegan's torso. The snake faunus stepped a few feet back so that Colby's attack missed him, then attempted to shove his dagger into the young huntsman's stomach. Colby jumped a few feet over to the right and then attempted to roundhouse kick the snake faunus, who then ducked over his kick, pulled out another dagger in his left hand, and attempted to plunge them into Colby's stomach. The young huntsman just jumped a few feet back and tried swinging at Deegan again with his right tomahawk, but the snake faunus blocked his attack.

"You've committed the worst sin a huntsman can possibly commit," Colby said with his voice full of contempt. "You betrayed your teammates for personal gain. You have no honor."

"Who needs honor when you've got money and employers like the White Fang who are willing to give it to you?" Deegan asked. "Honor is just something made up by weak people who are too afraid of doing what it takes to truly be strong."

"I'm about to show you who's truly weak!" Colby replied angrily as he kicked Deegan a few feet back and lunged in toward him.

Meanwhile, the other three members of Team COAL rushed into the caboose as fast as they could. "We'll need to detach the passenger cars," Lily said to her teammates. "According to my calculations, the probability of Colby beating Deegan in time to stop the train is only 6.28%. Colby's tough, but he's no match for a huntsman like Deegan. So we'll need to detach the cars before the train can go over the cliff. But before we can do that, we'll have to clear out the White Fang. It'll go faster if we climb on the roof. We won't have to push through the crowds, and we'll be able to hit the Fang from behind."

"Understood, Lily," Autumn replied as she and Ouranos went outside the car and climbed a ladder up to the roof of the train. Lily followed close behind them.

On the roof, Lily, Autumn, and Ouranos had to be very careful not to slip and fall off the train. Looking over their shoulders, they saw the mountains outside Vacuo City in the distance. Realizing that they were running out of time, they hurried toward the caboose as quickly as they could without putting themselves at an unnecessary risk of falling. Once they reached the caboose, they jumped down, entered the car, and found many White Fang firing away at the passengers. The train's security forces had rushed to the back of the train to deal with the grunts, but they were outgunned and would soon be overrun without the students' help.

Wasting no time, Lily fired a couple of arrows at two White Fang grunts, killing them and causing them to fall on the floor. Autumn and Ouranos charged in and bashed in the skulls of several more White Fang grunts. They made sure not to use the ranged functions of their weapons, as that carried the risk of hitting allies or civilians in their weapons' areas of effect.

After the White Fang were all dealt with, one of the guards spoke up. "I don't know who you are, but you've saved our asses. We really owe you one."

"It's all part of being a huntress," Lily replied proudly. "But we need everyone to be at the back of the train," she explained. "The train has been hijacked, and it's headed toward the cliffs outside Vacuo City. If we get everyone to the back of the train, we'll be able to detach the cars before that happens."

"Alright, let's get everyone back here," the guard said. He and his men followed the students into the other cars, but suddenly more White Fang grunts jumped in from jeeps that were driving beside the train.

"It looks like we're in for a fight," Autumn said as she gripped her guitar and charged forward to deal with the White Fang.

Back toward the front of the train, Colby was holding out against his opponent despite his comparative lack of strength and experience, but he was growing tired. Deegan had him on the defensive, striking at him with his two daggers, and Colby did his best to block and dodge the attacks.

"_If I can just stay alive long enough for my teammates to save those people and come back here, victory will be mine," _he thought. He and Deegan locked blades again, and he took the opportunity to kick the snake faunus to the ground. He raised his right axe to finish off his opponent, but the snake faunus rolled out of the way, got back up, and slashed at Colby with his daggers. Colby, however, kept on dodging. All he had to do was survive long enough for his teammates to arrive.

"You know you and your terrorist friends can't win, right?" the boy said to his opponents. "Even if you succeed here, you will only have enraged a kingdom full of some of the hardiest people in Remnant. People who never really liked the Fang that much to begin with."

"You think this is about rallying the faunus of Vacuo to the cause of the Fang?" Deegan retorted. "I told you, this is about nothing but lien. I don't care what happens to the White Fang."

"You're loyal to none but yourself," Colby replied.

"Exactly," said Deegan. "Now die!"

Deegan kicked Colby, who stumbled a few feet back but managed to jump out of the way when Deegan lunged at him with his knife. He just had to hold out just a little longer. Then, he and his teammates would turn the tables. He just hoped they'd get there in time to stop the train.

Meanwhile, Colby's three teammates fought their way through the train's cars with the help of the security forces. The White Fang troops were no match for the young huntsmen and huntresses, and soon they were all cleared out. Now, they would evacuate everyone to the back of the train.

"Everyone, hurry!" Lily shouted as the remaining passengers and security guards ran toward the back. The train was starting to go up the mountains outside Vacuo City. Once Lily and her teammates were sure that everyone had been evacuated to the back half of the train, they detached the two middle cars. The back of the train drifted backward, but it would soon come to a stop thanks to the emergency brake.

"Now, we have to go help Colby," Lily said to her teammates. "Ideally, we'll also be able to stop the train before it goes over the cliffs. I calculate that I have the best chance of stopping it. You two go help Colby while I sneak into the front from the roof."

"Understood, Lily," Autumn replied. "Good luck up there."

Lily climbed onto the roof while Autumn and Ouranos ran to assist Colby. When they arrived to help him, they found that Deegan had him on the defensive.

"Oh, look," the snake faunus said smugly. "Two of your friends have arrived just in time to watch you die."

Autumn and Ouranos ran in to help their teammate, but were unable to take Deegan down even in a three-on-one fight. He was fast and managed to dodge their attacks, and then the inside of the car they were in suddenly went dark. The members of Team COAL could barely see, and Ouranos hit Colby with his axe thinking the latter was Deegan. His aura prevented any real damage, but he fell to the floor.

"This guy's semblance must be focused on covering an area in a shroud of darkness," Autumn said as she swung her guitar at the real Deegan, who held it back with his daggers. "Luckily, it has less of an effect on me because I'm a faunus. We have good eyesight."

"His semblance makes perfect sense," Colby said as he got back up. "All he's ever done is blind people with his lies!" he shouted as he charged at Deegan again and tried to attack him from behind while he was holding back Autumn's attack. The snake faunus just rolled out of the way and kept swinging at his opponents.

Meanwhile, Lily jumped down into the train's engine room to deal with the hijackers and hopefully stop the train, but time was running out. She kicked down the door to find a couple of White Fang engineers who had stayed behind to guard the engine room and ensure that the train went over the cliff like it was supposed to. Lily fired an arrow at each of them, but they activated hard light shields and deflected the arrows. Then, they pulled out swords and charged at Lily, who jumped over to the right before they could hit her. She fired a couple more arrows at each of them while their backs were exposed. The arrows hit them, but their auras protected them.

"_These guys must be part of the Fang's elite forces," _Lily thought.

The engineers turned around and ran at Lily again, but she fired an arrow at one of their legs and caused him to stumble over while jumping out of the other one's way. While the one she hit was down, she fired one more arrow at his head, which finally pierced his aura and killed him. The other one charged at her and managed to cut through the arrow she fired at him with his sword. He kicked her over, and she fell to the ground. While she was down, he ran over and prepared to deliver the coup de grace.

Lily rolled out of the way just in time, got up, and pulled out her knife. The engineer swung his sword at her, but she ducked under it and kicked his legs out from under him. While he was down, she finished him off by plunging her knife into his chest.

With both her opponents dead, the fox faunus turned toward the control console to try to shut off the train. Unfortunately, as she looked out the front window, she saw that the train was rapidly approaching the edge of the cliffs. It was too late to stop it from going over the edge. But if she hurried, she might be able to warn her teammates in time to save their lives. She ran out of the engine room and into the car where her teammates were fighting Deegan.

"Guys, the train's about to go over the cliff!" she yelled. "We need to jump out now!"

Immediately, Colby and his teammates rushed toward the nearest window and jumped out, breaking the glass. They all landed on the ground, unharmed thanks to their auras. The train, however, went over the cliff, plummeted down to the ground, and exploded when it hit the ground. To the distance, the members of Team COAL could see buildings. They knew that they were looking at Vacuo City. They had just this final foe to defeat before they could reach their destination.

"You've failed, Castanho," Deegan said mockingly. "I've cut off Sandstone's direct route to Vacuo City. You are weak and stupid, just like your father. And now you will die."

"NO!" Colby shouted out as he activated his semblance and jumped toward Deegan. The snake faunus had crossed the line by insulting his father, and he was about to make the fool pay for his insults and treachery. The snake faunus rolled out of the way before Colby could hit him, but something strange happened when Colby hit the ground. Something that had never happened before.

When Colby hit the ground, he created a huge shockwave that shook the earth beneath him and sent rocks and dust flying everywhere. It pushed Deegan backward, but not toward the edge of the cliff. His semblance had never done this before.

"There must be more to his semblance than we thought," Lily said as she watched from about twenty feet away. "Colby should definitely ask someone about this when he gets to Shade."

"So, you've got some new tricks up your sleeve," the snake faunus said with a grin. "Well two can play at that game!" He held his daggers near his fangs and sprayed a dark green liquid onto the blades. Team COAL knew that this meant Deegan's daggers were coated in venom. Lily fired an arrow at him, but he struck it out of the air with one of his daggers. Autumn tried attacking him with sonic waves from her guitar, but the snake faunus jumped out of the way and returned fire with his pistol. Before the dog faunus could react, a bullet pierced her aura and hit her in the chest. She fell to the ground.

In a blind rage, Colby lunged forward and tried to hit Deegan again. He missed, and his tomahawk created another shockwave when it hit the ground. The snake faunus was on the edge of its area of effect when Colby hit the ground, so he only stumbled a little. Colby charged in at him, but he regained his balance in time to block the attack. Meanwhile, Lily and Ouranos rushed over to Autumn to help her.

"I'm alive," Autumn said weakly as her teammates approached.

Lily turned to Ouranos. "You go help Colby while I tend to Autumn's wounds. You have a better chance at beating Deegan than I do."

"Understood, Lily," said the blonde boy. "I'll take this bastard down. Just promise me you won't lose Autumn, okay?"

"She'll be fine," the fox faunus replied. "Deegan missed the vital organs. I just need to stop the bleeding and get her to Shade where we can safely remove the bullet."

Ouranos ran to assist Colby against the snake faunus. He swung his axe horizontally, but the snake faunus jumped over it and kicked the blonde boy while he was in the air. Ouranos was stunned for a few seconds, but managed to snap out of it in time to jump out of the way before Deegan could strike him with his poison-coated blades.

Colby threw one of his tomahawks toward Deegan, who ducked under it. Once it returned to Colby, the boy charged in and swung his right axe toward the snake faunus, who blocked it with his right dagger and attempted to stab Colby with his left one. Colby stepped over to the right in time to dodge the attack, and Ouranos rushed in to help him with a vertical strike from his axe. The snake faunus, however, dodged this attack, ran up to the boy and kicked him to the ground. At this point, Ouranos's aura had been depleted and he was growing exhausted. His axe fell several feet away.

Deegan walked over to plunge his blade into Ouranos's chest, but Colby ran up to defend his teammate. Colby held the snake faunus off for a while, but he was growing exhausted. Eventually, as Deegan tried to stab at Colby with one of his daggers, the blade grazed his left arm. The venom had entered his bloodstream.

"You're finished," the snake faunus said smugly. "It's only a matter of time before that venom kills you. Or it would be if I wasn't about to kill you myself."

"Well, at least I can take you down with me!" Colby shouted defiantly as he charged at Deegan one last time. The snake faunus was more than ready for him and kicked him onto the ground. Then, he seized Colby by the neck and prepared to plunge his dagger into the boy's stomach.

"You never had a chance to defeat me, Castanho," he said. "You were weak, and now you will die."

Before he could stab Colby, however, a gunshot rang out. It caught Deegan by surprise, and the snake faunus fell to the ground. The gunshots continued and were joined by laser blasts. Looking over, everyone saw the four members of Team IRON standing nearby.

"We'll teach you to mess with our friends!" Irving Dunstan shouted before turning to Naseem. "Let's get him!"

Irving and Naseem charged forward, backed up by supporting fire from Oakley and Ray. Between Irving and Naseem's melee attacks and the gunfire from Oakley and Ray, he was simply overwhelmed. He could not handle this many attacks at once, and he was already tired from fighting Team COAL. Naseem knocked him to the ground with a diagonal strike, and as he hit the ground he realized that he could not beat all these huntsmen at once. He stood up and prepared to retreat.

"Don't think you've won here!" he shouted. "The young Castanho will surely die from my venom. The rest of you are living on borrowed time. There are forces at work in Vacuo that are more powerful than you could possibly comprehend. Until next time!" the snake faunus said as he ran away.

"I told you all we'd meet again!" Irving said to everyone. Then he turned toward Colby, who was lying on the ground. "I knew you'd be a great huntsman," he said proudly. "To come all this way and survive a fight with an opponent like him requires true skill."

"You really saved us," Colby replied. "But how'd you find us?"

"We were told that the train had been hijacked, and Shade sent us over here to help," he said.

"He poisoned me," Colby said. "I'm going to die if you don't get me to Shade soon."

"That's exactly why we're here," said Irving. "We've got an airship that will take us all back to Shade. You'll get some medical treatment there."

The members of Team IRON helped Colby and his teammates onto the airship, which took off toward the city. As they flew closer, they saw a huge pyramid-like structure in the center of town. They knew that they had at long last arrived at Shade Academy.

"Might I ask what you all are doing here in Vacuo?" Ray asked. "You took an extreme risk, coming all the way to this kingdom from across the desert."

"We're here to save some friends who were captured by the White Fang and taken here," Lily explained.

"That's very noble of you," Naseem said. "We'll do everything we can to help."

"We'll have to convince Professor Theodore," replied Lily. "I calculate a low probability that he'll be willing to put his students' and teachers' lives at risk to save some people from another kingdom."

"If anyone can convince them, it's you."

"I hope you're right," Lily replied. "But there's one more thing. "Colby here did something with his semblance that he had never done before. Do you have any idea what might be going on?"

"Sometimes huntsmen discover that there's more to their semblances than they thought," said Ray. "But I would ask Professor Theodore about it if I were him."

"Then that's what I'll do," said Colby.

The airship landed, and Team COAL was escorted to the hospital wing to undergo treatment for their injuries. Colby was very grateful to his friends on Team IRON, and was glad to have finally reached his destination. As soon as he was able, he would talk to Professor Theodore and convince the headmaster to help save his friends.


End file.
